CM Kumaraswamy lands 5 hours late for meet

Raichur, Jun 27: Hundreds of people in Hyderabad-Karnataka region reached Karegudda villageearly Wednesday in the hope they could meet HD Kumaraswamy with their grievances at the Janata Darshan and return home by evening.

However, their hope turned to despair when he didn’t turn up till 3pm, five hours late. And he started accepting petitions only after 5pm after a long speech. Those waiting included cancer patients, many physically challenged persons, widows and senior citizens — and some had come from as far as Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Ballari and Bidar, all about 150-250km away.

The CM decided to continue the darshan till midnight. Officials overseeing the programme said he couldn’t arrive on time because protests had delayed his roadshow and he had to meet many visitors at the Raichur circuit house.

Earlier, many left disappointed, fearing they wouldn’t get a bus back home. They had taken tokens and had been waiting from 8am. Dasappa Kadatinni, 60, a resident of Matamari village who came seeking medical help was upset. “My poor health doesn’t permit me to stand for a long time. Yet I waited till 1pm and left when the CM didn’t turn up,’’ he added.

After sunset, there were just a handful of people in the queue. By around 8pm, around 1,200 people had met him and submitted petitions. Officials had expected 5,000. While his recent stays at Chandriki village, Yadgir, were better organised, there was chaos with poor arrangements for the public.