Start preparing for snap polls: Nikhil Kumaraswamy

BENGALURU: Amid reports of a rift between the Congress and the JD(S), the ruling partners in Karnataka, a video purportedly of Nikhil, chief minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son, requesting JD(S) party workers to prepare for elections has emerged. The video has since been widely shared.
“We may have to go to polls at any given time,” Nikhil purportedly says in Kannada, while interacting with party workers in Mandya. “It may be a month, a year or two. We must be ready for any situation that is presented to us. We must begin work on it now.”
Nikhil had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of independent Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya Lok Sabha seat. Taking the defeat in his stride, Nikhil visited Mandya with the resolve to strengthen the JD(S) in the district.
In the video, Nikhil is heard assuring party workers that the coalition government will serve out a full term. “There is no doubt Kumaranna [Kumaraswamy] will complete his term as chief minister,” Nikhil purportedly says. “You get tensed over reports in the media [that the government will fall], but it is not like that. We know what is happening inside [the government]. Kumaraswamy will run [the government] for the next four years. But still, I want you all to be ready to face elections at any point of time.”
Nikhil's comments comes close on the heels of AH Vishwanath's resignation as state JD(S) chief, owning “moral responsibility” for the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls.
Now, Anitha slams media
Close on the heels of Kumaraswamy saying he is mulling a law to control the media for portraying politicians in bad light, his wife and Ramanagara MLA Anitha Kumaraswamy on Thursday hit out at the media for what she called “negative coverage” of Kumaraswamy’s intended grama vastavya (village stay) programme.
“You (electronic media) only point out mistakes,” Anitha told reporters in Ramanagara. “You have lost all credibility. You people don’t know how difficult it is for politicians to deliver. You should try contesting gram panchayat elections and see how much it takes to fulfill aspirations of the people.”
She said some villages where Kumaraswamy had stayed have seen development and some haven’t. “There are a lot of positives about the grama vastavya programme Kumaraswamy undertook in 2006-07 but they are not being highlighted,” she said.
Anitha’s visit to Ramanagara came in the backdrop of social media posts with the caption ‘Anithakka yellidira?’ (Anitha sister, where are you?). She hasn’t visited the constituency after winning the bypolls late last year. She had contested from the segment after Kumaraswamy, who had contested and won from two constituencies in the 2018 assembly polls, vacated the seat.
After being lampooned by the media, Kumaraswamy had vowed not to interact with reporters directly.