After the province’s second term Pre-University (class 12) and other educational institution examinations, the Congress in Karnataka has chosen to call off the two-hour general strike it’d announced on March 9 as a component of its battle towards widespread misconduct by the governing Bharatiya Janata party.
As a result of pressure from pupils and their parents in the wake of high school and university tests, especially the second PUC examinations, Congress has opted to postpone the symbolically Karnataka general strike that was scheduled to take place tomorrow, according to the group’s collective responsibility leader D K Shivakumar.
He claimed that prominent officials in Congress were consulted before making this choice. On March 9, from 9 am to 11 am, Congress planned to observe a formal general strike in outrage at the suspected corruption and abuse of power by the Bharatiya Janata Party and to request the retirement of the Chief Minister. Said Shivakumar: “And yet, given the upcoming exams, parents, as well as pupils, voiced worry that the bandh would burden them. Our top concern is for their well-being. We have, however, opted to revoke the bandh request in order to acknowledge their concerns.” The party had appealed to all business owners to comply by closing their stores and enterprises for two hours so that schools, colleges, transportation, and healthcare facilities were not going to be interrupted even during the bandh.