india

Updated: Jun 20, 2019 23:44 IST

The Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government on Thursday officially kicked off a charm offensive in the state in an attempt to boost its credibility.

The move comes less than a month after the coalition faced an embarrassing defeat in the state in the Lok Sabha polls by winning just two of the 28 constituencies. The BJP, on the other hand, won 25 seats. One seat was won by a independent who was supported by the BJP.

Chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and deputy chief minister G Parameshwara released a booklet detailing the achievements of the government over the past year, a day ahead of the chief minister kicking off his village visit programmes in Yadgir district.

Addressing the press after the booklet’s release, Kumaraswamy said that the government was on course to successfully complete the implementation of the farm loan waiver that he had made a priority after being sworn in last year.

“We have given many memorable schemes over the past year, but the talk has centred on the government being unstable and likely to fall,” Kumaraswamy said. “Through the village stay [known as Grama Vastavya in Kannada] programme we will make sure that the schemes of the government reach the people directly,” he added.

Parameshwara, too, echoed these sentiments saying that the state had become a “model” for the country, because it had shown that state governments could even waive loans taken from nationalised banks. “And all of this was done in a timely manner,” he said.

Additionally, Kumaraswamy said he would ask ministers in the state Cabinet to also separately visit villages across the state to ensure that people benefited from the programmes launched by the government.

The village visit programme, which Kumaraswamy had first done in his previous stint as chief minister between 2006-08, has had its share of critics, especially because he has also operated at times from suites in some five-star hotels in the city. Government machinery, including ministers, have also visited the villages that the chief minister is set to visit to ensure that they are spruced up for the programme. Rebutting the charges that he was operating mainly from five star hotels, Kumaraswamy said he had lived at all kinds of places, including in huts in villages.

Even as the government was putting up this brave face, doubts lingered over the stability of the coalition. Over the past year, it has been racked by dissent from within both parties, but especially from the Congress.

This, senior leaders in the state believe, was the most likely cause of the embarrassing defeat of the coalition in the Lok Sabha polls. And this anger was on display again on Thursday.

JD(S) state president AH Vishwanath, who has tendered his resignation from the post, hit out at coalition leaders again. “Please accept my resignation else I will have to consider resigning as MLA,” he said.

Vishwanath went on to take a pot shot at his long-time foe, the former chief minister and Congress Legislature Party chief Siddaramaiah. Angered at Siddaramaiah’s hold over the Congress, Vishwanath had switched over to the JD(S) last year ahead of the assembly polls.