Kumaraswamy forced to cut short village stay due to inclement weather

BENGALURU: On Saturday, due to heavy rains and inclement weather in north Karnataka, the much-publicised two-day village stay of Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy was cut short, an official said.

On Friday, in the midst of the fanfare, the chief minister stayed overnight in a government school, at the Chandraki village in Gurmitkal taluka of Yadgir district, which is located about 490 km north of Bengaluru.

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

After checking into the school, which was renovated for the overnight stay, Kumaraswamy held a 'janata darshan' (public interaction) to 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. Kumaraswamy's village homestays 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 said.