In a shocking claim, veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the surge in the Covid cases in the state was not due to Mekedatu padayatara, even as he prayed for the safety of the participants.

"Covid surge is not happening because of the padayatra. Because, there are no padayatra taken out in Delhi, Maharashtra and Kerala, and yet there is a surge in Covid cases there," he told reporters here after rejoining the padayatra on the third day after he had returned to Bengaluru due to fever on day one of the march.

"We will not stop our padayatra at any cost, but I would pray to God that none of the participants get infected with Covid," he said.

This remark comes close on the heels of KPCC President DK Shivakumar, who also made ditto claims a few days back.

The Congress has taken out the padayatra demanding early implementation of the Mekedatu project, which has raised political dust between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. It was launched on Sunday in the presence of senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, RV Deshpane and others, at the confluence of Arkavathy and Cauvery rivers in Ramanagara district.

If the state government does not want to make a mockery of the law, it should have taken punitive action against MP Renukacharya and Subash Guttedar, who also have flouted Covid norms, Siddaramaiah argued.

The pro-people's padayatra cannot be postponed due to the surge in Covid cases because it was charted out two months ago, he contended. "No, no, no. We are not playing with the lives of the people. People's lives should be saved. There are no two thoughts in this," he added.

The Basavaraj Bommai government is making efforts to stop the padayatra as it is afraid of it due to voluntary participation of the people, Siddaramaiah said.

"By looking at the response of the people for the padayatra, Bommai is not getting sleep I guess and will be remembering the Ballari padayatra years back when 5 lakh people gathered on the last day of the march. At any cost, we will not call off the march, despite the Bommai government making efforts to stop it," he reiterated.

Asked about the FIR lodged against himself, Shivakumar and other Congress leaders for flouting Covid norms, Sidaramaiah said, "If the government is trying to stop the padayatra legally, we will also fight it legally."