JD(S) candidate in Srinivasapura Assembly constituency, in Kolar district, G.K. Venkatashiva Reddy, promises to fight corruption, failure of local governance in delivering government funds and schemes for the underprivileged, and farmers. The four-time MLA lost to Ramesh Kumar of Congress in 2018. He is the JD(S) candidate in this election.
Excerpts from an interview
What are the main issues in Srinivasapura constituency?
The key issues are corruption, failure of local governance in delivering government funds and schemes to the underprivileged, and farmers. People haven’t got their due. Despite official clearances, many projects have gone away from the constituency because of the shortcoming of the administration. No basic facilities are available here, such as drinking water and hospitals, at village level. Farmers are not getting quality seeds, or fertilizers to grow their crops. Also, they are forced to sell their produce below the cost of production. There are huge irregularities in land records.
What kind of response do you see for JD(S) this time?
People are clearly rooting for a change. H. D. Kumaraswamy’s Pancharatna Yatra, with its five-point welfare programme, has garnered much appreciation, and bolstered the JD(S) campaign. We are extremely confident.
What are your key priorities, if elected?
We want to bring pro-farmer, pro-women, and pro-poor policies. We will roll out self-employment schemes and also ensure basic facilities for the underprivileged. In resonance with the JD(S) agenda, we propose to implement panchayat-level specialty healthcare systems, offer quality, free education to all from LKG to class 12, provide free housing to the needy, offer free aid per acre land to all farmers holding less than 10 acres of land. We will also offer special aid to widows in the constituency.
