Mangaluru: To mark the 150th birthday anniversary of Rashtrapita Mahatma Gandhi, the Dakshina Kannada district Congress committee organised a padayatra from the Karavali Utsav ground to the Town Hall on Wednesday, October 2.

The padayatra began from the Karavali Utsav ground at around 3.15 pm. Thousands of party workers and leaders participated in the event. Before culminating at the Town Hall, the procession went through Lalbagh, M G Road, PVS Circle, Bunts Hostel, Ambedkar Circle, Hampankatta and A B Shetty circle.

Congress leader Dayananth Kotian, while delivering the key-note address, said that Mahatma Gandhi was jailed 22 times for the sake of India’s independence. “His sacrifice for our country was immense and he was deserving of the term ‘Mahatma’. Considering his selfless service to society and to the whole country, the people in his native place compared him to Lord Sri Krishna. However, Mahatma asked his followers not to do so as, he said, it would be an insult to the deity. But, when USA president recently called Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘Mahatma’, he neither hesitated nor opposed it. There is no other Mahatma in our country except Gandhiji,” he said.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary P C Vishnunathan congratulated the district Congress committee for organising a disciplined padayatra. “This padayatra is a classic example for how a programme should be organised and precautionary measures should be taken for the success of a programme. It is an ideal for the entire state,” he said.

MLC and district Congress committee president Hareesh Kumar welcomed the gathering. Former minister B Ramanath Rai, MLA U T Khader, MLC Ivan D’Souza, former MLAs J R Lobo, Moideen Bava, Shakunthala Shetty and other leaders like Mithun Rai, Bhaskar K, Dr Raghu, Mamatha Gatti, Shalet Pinto and others were present.