Kumaraswamy to go ahead with village stays even as Opposition asks, ‘Kumaranna Idu Yenanna?’

Kalaburagi:  Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy showed simplicity by opting to sleep on a mat instead of a mattress in the government school of Chandaraki village in Kalaburagi district. But one will be astonished to know that even that simplicity has come at a huge cost. A large chunk of money was spent on making arrangements for his large entourage and the visitors.

Local officials, eager to please, seem to have achieved the one goal that Kumaraswamy had not planned for his ‘Grama Vastavya’ series, that of keeping it simple. While he said that no special arrangements will be made, the reality on the ground paints a   different picture.

The CM has spent Rs.1 crore for his village stay of 24 hours at Chandaraki village. Out of this amount, Rs.25 lakh was spent for food for the people who had arrived at the village. Another Rs.25 lakh was spent for shifting the office of the CM and also for setting up counters for receiving applications from the public.

Lunch was prepared for around 25,000 people and dinner was served for nearly 500 people including students, teachers, officials and local politicians. The expense of Rs.25 lakh included the morning breakfast also.

The rest Rs.50 lakh was spent for the stage setting and the ‘Janata Darshan’ programme of the CM. Over 4,000 people took part in the ‘Janata Darshan’ programme and 1,800 online applications were received.

Speaking to media, Kumaraswamy said, “I have decided to create a separate cell that will monitor implementation of assurances given to people during ‘Grama Vastavya’ in different parts of the State.”

On why his own assurances given in 2006 could not be fulfilled in many places, the CM laid the blame at the doors of the BJP and B.S. Yeddyurappa, who was Deputy Chief Minister and held the Finance portfolio.

“Now the Finance portfolio is with me and there is a lot of time to respond to grievances,” he said.