BENGALURU: For JD (S) President H D Kumaraswamy, family comes first, and the state and its people later. At a time when Karnataka is facing the worst-ever drought, the former chief minister is busy visiting Bulgaria and other countries looking for idyllic locations for his son Nikhil’s upcoming movie Jaguar. “As a father, it is also my duty to see that my son establish himself and build a career in an industry which he loves,” said Kumaraswamy, adding, “As for reaching out to drought-hit families, I had visited about 400 families of farmers who committed suicide and presented financial assistance from my own pocket. I would have loved to continue the gesture if only JD(S) was a party with resources. Our party is a pauper now and I am doing my son’s movie by raising huge loans from banks. Anyone can check it with my bankers.”
A few days back, Kumaraswamy returned to Bengaluru from Bulgaria and a few other European countries. Earlier too, he had visited Hong Kong for his son’s movie which is expected to be ready for release during Vijaya Dashmi. “The former CM is expected to go on location hunting again,” confirmed JD(S) spokesperson Ramesh Babu.
Ironically, the JD(S) state president belongs to a party that claims to champion farmers’ causes while he says,“I am neither the Chief Minister nor am I the Leader of the Opposition. My touring or not touring the state will not make any difference.”
Meanwhile, former PM H D Deve Gowda claimed that he had already visited drought-hit regions of both Cauvery and Krishna basins. Siddaramaiah, who completed three years as Chief Minister on Friday, has taken the lead by starting his state visit from worst-hit districts of Kalaburgi, Raichur, Bidar and Yadgir. In the second round, he visited Mumbai-Karnataka region and interacted with farmers. In the meantime, the BJP under state president B S Yeddyurappa has hit the ground with all enthusiasm and verve. The party leaders have toured most parts of the state. They highlighted the government’s failure and put pressure on it to act fast to provide relief to people. After the tour, the BJP leaders stepped up their attack on the Congress government.
Absence of the top leadership has only added to the woes of JD(S), which is already beset with dissidence. Some of the JD(S) legislators hoped that Kumaraswamy would devote more time to rejuvenate the party.