Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is set to embark on the second edition of his village-stay programme amid a growing opposition chorus that he is a “five-star CM”.
Kumaraswamy is set to visit villages four times a month, with the intention of mingling with the people and making his administration more effective. He also plans to spend each night in a government school building, with just a mat on the floor for him to sleep on.
With this, Kumaraswamy intends to stem the growing perception that he is not a CM for the poor, given that he has been conducting official business for the last one year out of a five-star hotel next to his allotted official home-office in Bengaluru.
B.S. Yeddyurappa of the BJP, the leader of the opposition, demanded that Kumaraswamy give up this “five-star culture” and stop living in the hotel “if he really is a representative of the people”.
Even members of his own party, the Janata Dal (Secular) have been complaining that he has been increasingly inaccessible — many say they were denied entry or sent back from the lobby.