Karnataka: HD Kumaraswamy launches Pancharatna yatre 4 days early on astrologers’ advice

BENGALURU: Former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S) symbolically flagged off the party’s ambitious Pancharatna Yatre on Thursday, performing a special puja at Gavi Gangadhareshwara temple in Bengaluru to soft launch the vehicle rally.
The yatre was originally scheduled to be launched on November 1 — Rajyotsava Day — from Kurudumale Ganesha temple in Mulbagal, Kolar district, but was brought forward on “the advice of astrologers”.“Since today is an auspicious day, we were advised to symbolically launch the yatre,” Kumaraswamy said.
“My father [party supremo HD Deve Gowda] had started his election campaign in 1994 from this temple.” He said the “actual” yatre will begin from Mulbagal on November 1. He also said JD(S) will release its first list of 90 to 100 candidates for next year’s assembly elections on the same day.
After the soft launch, the JD(S) second-in-command appealed to people to vote for his party to “improve their own future”. Kumaraswamy promised that if his party comes to power, he will ensure there is a 30-bed hospital in each gram panchayat, “which will not just be structures but will have all the essential facilities” to treat people.
He also promised free quality education in government schools, jobs for youth, women’s empowerment projects, housing for all, and “appealing” schemes for farmers and labourers. He said if his party returns to government, he will ensure farmers are free of debt. “You can point to me and say you could have done all this when you were CM.
I was indeed CM, but I was dependent on others and had limited room. If I had a five-year term, I would have implemented these schemes,” he said. Insisting JD(S) will form the government in Karnataka next year, Kumaraswamy urged party functionaries to work to win “at least 10-12 seats” in Bengaluru city.
In 2018, the party won just one of the 28 seats in the I-T city. In the first phase, the JD(S) yatre will cover Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Tumakuru, Hassan and Ramanagara districts in the Old Mysuru region over 35 days. During the yatra, the party will promise free education, employment to youths, houses for the poor and free health facilities in villages if voted to power in the 2023 elections.