Sadananda Gowda says Grama Vastavya is a 'gimmick' to shift focus from coalition

Bengaluru: Calling the 'Grama Vastavya' initiative of Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy a "gimmick," Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda Monday said it was a ploy to shift focus from the bickerings in the Congress-JDS coalition.

His comments come a day after Kumaraswamy announced he would resume his 'Grama Vastavya' (village stay) programme to find out the challenges facing the state's rural areas.

Kumaraswamy had initiated the programme to interact with villagers during his previous tenure as chief minister, which lasted from February 2006 to October 2007.

"Earlier, he (Kumaraswamy) used to go to villages and stay there, but none of the villages had been taken care of by the then government, and now, he faces a big challenge of saving his crumbling government, therefore he wants to shift focus from it," the Union Minister told reporters here.

Responding to a query on Chemicals and Fertilizers ministry, Gowda said there was a need for the revival of four major plants to check too much import of fertilisers.

"Practically, we have to revive four major units. For now, we are importing too much of fertilisers. Now, we want to ensure that manufacturing is done in our country that reduces the cost of fertilisers," he said.

On the three-language formula issue, Gowda said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already indicated that there would be no imposition of any kind on any state.

Amid controversy over the recommendation of an HRD Ministry panel to teach Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states, a revised draft education policy was issued Monday that did not have a mention of the language being compulsory.