Bengaluru: Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar Thursday blamed the Congress for the surge of Covid cases in the state courtesy Mekedatu padayatra and lauded Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for handling a sensitive situation without resorting to brute force.

"Our government constantly tried to persuade Congress to stop the Mekedatu padayatra and handled the situation in a mature manner without use of brute force. Padayatra has indeed led to a surge in cases and Congress is responsible for this," he told reporters here.

Karnataka Congress should have canceled the padayatra looking at Uttar Pradesh Congress canceling political rallies despite impending elections, he said. "If the Congress was really concerned about Karnataka, it should have convinced its alliance partner DMK in Tamil Nadu to withdraw the court case on the matter," he added.

Coming heavily on KPCC President DK Shivakumar, Dr Sudhakar said the Congress leader has hurt the morale of Covid warriors by making irresponsible statements and refusing to take Blood/Covid test.

He asked the Opposition to work with the government to find solutions to inter-state water disputes as Bommai has a good hold on irrigation issues.

On Covid safety measures, Dr Sudhakar said it is important for everyone to get both doses of vaccine in the light of cases doubling in every two to three days, instead of 10 to 12 days in the first wave.

The government, Dr Sudhakar said, aims to achieve a target of at least two lakh tests per day and increase it further. About one lakh tests are being done in Bengaluru itself, he said.

He also the state has about 265 labs operational, and nine genomic labs. "We have a capacity to sequence 1,875 samples in one batch," he said.