Hubballi: Ridiculing Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's decision to resume his village stays and connect to the people at the grassroots, state BJP president, B S Yeddyurappa , who began a tour of drought-hit North Karnataka on Friday, advised him instead to help the farmers suffering a drought.
Speaking to reporters in Hubballi, he said that village stays by the Chief Minister would be meaningless as grants were not being released to the villagers to help them combat the drought. "The Chief Minister is embarking on such programmes only to divert the attention of the people from the real problems of the state. People are living under severe drought conditions with sowing having been carried out only in two to three per cent of the agricultural land. So they are not likely to be swayed by a village -stay programme," he contended, claiming that ruling party leaders were fighting among themselves and "deceiving the people of the state."
Kumaraswamy is scheduled to begin his Grama Vastvya from June 21 at Gurmitkal taluk in Yadgir district. The next day, he is scheduled to be at Afzalpur taluk in Kalaburagi district. On June 28 and 29, he will be at Sidhanur of Raichur and Bidar's Basavakalyana, respectively.
Targeting former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too, he asked officials of Badami whether he had held a meeting with them to discuss drought relief measures in the constituency he represented in the state assembly.
Referring to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son, Nikhil's claim about the possibility of mid-term polls in the state, he said the BJP was not for them and it was the Congress and JD(S) leaders, who had no confidence in completing their full term. As for BJP national general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, Muralidhar Rao's call to Congress leaders to join his party, Mr Yeddyurappa claimed that this was no Operation Lotus, but only an invitation to them to help the BJP form a government in the state.
