MYSURU: Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s plan to take up Grama Vastavya 2.0, that was a hit during his first innings, is bound to raise many questions among the people -- primarily, the timing and objective of his campaign. Kumaraswamy, who hopes to recreate the goodwill among the farming community which he had then reaped, may find it difficult to convince people why it has taken him a year -- and a massive Lok Sabha defeat -- to begin his tour and get an idea about the people’s issues.  

There is already a simmering discontent with farmers already in distress. The proposed village stay, in the backdrop of the alliance’s wipeout, followed by a poor show in the just concluded urban local bodies poll, is likely to give the opposition a tool to attack the government.BJP spokesperson G Madhusudhan said that Kumaraswamy has no morality nor face to go on a village stay in government schools when his loan waiver assurances are a “flop show”. He said that only Rs 3,000 crore has been released, as against Rs 42,000 crore promised. He said Kumaraswamy should come out with details on the execution of budgetary programmes.

Instead of administering the state, Kumaraswamy will be seen to be wasting time and energy every day. The popular view is that governance has come to a standstill following the code of conduct, and ministers and secretaries have not toured the districts or reviewed drought relief work to instil confidence in the people and stop migration to cities. Another argument is that these problems are known, as both former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy have extensively toured the state and interacted with farmers, academicians and others, and they also came out with an impressive manifesto which promised a farm loan waiver.

While the loan waiver took off with a big bang, it got bogged down in delays, and has denied farmers an opportunity to borrow fresh loans. State Sugarcane Growers’ Association president Kurbur Shanthakumar said the government has failed to waive loans and also owes cane growers of 67 factories Rs 3,000 crore in arrears.  He said that since Kumaraswamy and his party leaders toured the state for first-hand information on farmers’ problems, why is the government silent on implementing the Swaminathan Committee report, uninterrupted power supply and scientific pricing.

When there is no action taken report on the previous village stay programme, why does the CM suddenly want to start Season 2, asked Raitha Morcha leader Nanjunde Gowda. Though Kumaraswamy’s village stay may give him individual attention, the administration is likely to be further affected, with the government machinery trailing him. The Congress too has its own fears: that Grama Vastavya will give Kumaraswamy a broad platform to hit out at the opposition and point out to infighting with its ally and also showcase himself as a political martyr and hero to gain sympathy.

KUMARASWAMY to start his village stay from Gurmitkal

Bengaluru: Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has decided to start his village stay programme from Hyderabad-Karnataka region, starting from June 21. Looks like the state government has carefully decided the districts for the Kumaraswamy’s programme to dispel perception that the coalition government is focusing more on South Karnataka and neglecting North Karnataka region. On June 21, the CM will stay in a village in Gurmitkal taluk in Yadgir district, and the next day, Kumaraswamy will stay in a village in Afzalpur taluk in Kalaburagi district. On July 5 and 6, the CM will be camping in villages at Basavakalayan in Bidar and Sindhnur in Raichur districts, according to a statement issued from the Chief Minister’s Office. On Monday, the CM held a meeting with senior officers to discuss details of his village  stay programme. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, who met the CM on Monday said village stay programme will help to take the administration closer to people and also help to get feedback on implementation of government programmes.