Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is set to launch a village stay programme in a bid to reconnect with the people after receiving a drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections.
On Sunday, Kumaraswamy took to Twitter to announce the move, saying his effort would be to “mingle with people, understand their problems and get feedback on the government’s work”.
ಜನರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಬೆರೆಯಲು, ಅವರ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳನ್ನು ಅರಿಯಲು, ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಕಾರ್ಯವೈಖರಿ ತಿಳಿಯಲು ನೆರವಾಗುವುದು ಗ್ರಾಮ ವಾಸ್ತವ್ಯ.
ಶೀಘ್ರವೇ ನನ್ನ ಗ್ರಾಮ ವಾಸ್ತವ್ಯ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾಗಲಿದೆ, ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಶಾಲೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ.
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) June 2, 2019
The Karnataka CM will begin ‘Grama Vastavya 2.0’ next week, said sources in the chief minister’s office (CMO), adding that the focus will be on farmers.
In 2006-07, during his 20-month tenure as chief minister, Kumaraswamy had launched the first edition of the programme to much popularity. At the time, he stayed in 47 villages, including the house of an HIV patient which caught the attention of Hollywood actor and activist Richard Gere.
However, unlike the last programme, the CM will stay in government schools this time. He is likely to travel on weekends and hold corner meetings during the day.
Need for Gram Vastavya
Kumaraswamy became the chief minister in 2018, despite his party, the Janata Dal (Secular), winning only 37 seats out of the state’s 224 — lower that both ally Congress (78) and Opposition BJP (104).
The JDS leader had planned to undertake this village connect programme soon after the elections, but doctors advised him against it as he had undergone back-to-back heart surgeries.
But the humiliating loss in the Lok Sabha elections — the JDS won only one seat of the state’s 28 — has forced Kumaraswamy to rethink his strategy.
With the electoral loss of both his father, party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, and son, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, in the Lok Sabha elections, the chief minister seems to have realised that his popularity is waning.
The constant power struggle between the Congress and JDS as government partners has further tied his hands.
Sources in the CMO said the village stay programme is also aimed at making Kumaraswamy more accessible and shed the “five-star CM” tag. He came to be known so, according to supporters and partymen, because he had become increasingly inaccessible as a CM and allegedly worked only out of starred hotels.
“The focus will be on the farmers this time and several meetings will be held with the residents to help the CM understand the people’s issues better,” said an official in the CMO who didn’t wish to be identified.
“There will also be a certain team of senior officers who will visit the villages that the CM is expected to stay in to understand the needs of the people. So, when the CM arrives there, he can address their grievances immediately and take decisions on the spot,” added the official.
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