Rain forces Kumaraswamy to shorten Karnataka village stay

The much-publicised two-day village stay of Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy was cut short on Saturday due to heavy rains and inclement weather in north Karnataka, an official said.

Heavy rains and inclement weather in the state's northern region forced Kumaraswamy to put off the second leg of his village stay at Herur in Afzalpur taluk of Kalaburagi district for Saturday night, an official of the Chief Minister's office told IANS.

Amid fanfare, the Chief Minister stayed overnight on Friday at Chandraki village in Gurmitkal taluk of Yadgir district, about 490 km north of Bengaluru, after a day-long interaction with the rural people, including farmers, artisans, traders and women.

"The Chief Minister is returning to Bengaluru by air from Hyderabad airport later in the day. He will drive from Yadgir to Hyderabad for the afternoon flight," the official said.

Hundreds of people met Kumaraswamy on Friday at Chandraki where he stayed for the night in a government school.

After checking into the school, renovated for the overnight stay, Kumaraswamy held a 'janata darshan' (pubic interaction) to know first-hand the problems of the people and address their grievances.

"Hundreds of people even from surrounding villages flocked to Chandraki to meet Kumaraswamy on his maiden visit to the hamlet as the Chief Minister," said the official.

Kumaraswamy was treated to a cultural programme of the region and had dinner with the students and teachers of the school where he slept on a mat on the ground.

He resumed his overnight village stay after 12 years to reach out the people in the countryside and assess first hand their living conditions.

"Kumaraswamy's village home stays during his tenure as the Chief Minister of then JD-S-BJP coalition government in 2006-07 was popular as the people were able to meet him directly and air their grievances or seek his help in solving their problems," the official recalled.

On June 28-29, the Chief Minister is scheduled to stay overnight at Basavakalyan in Bidar district and Sindanur in Raichur district in the state's northern region.IANS