H D Kumaraswamy hopes his govt will continue for 4 more years with Congress support

Amid strains in ties with Congress, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy expressed hope his government would complete its five-year term with the support and blessings of the coalition partner and others.

In a message on the eve of completion of one year in office, he also expressed happiness over launching various welfare programmes, including the pro-farmer measures such as the crop loan waiver.

"I thank the people of the state, my cabinet colleagues, my father, guide and former PM H D Deve Gowda, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal (AICC general secretary), Siddaramaiah (CLP leader), all public representatives and officials.

"May this government continue with your blessings and support for the next four years," the JDS leader said in the message. Kumaraswamy said the crop loan waiver had benefited 15.5 lakh farmers and was being implemented with "utmost transparency".

In the present fiscal, all eligible farmers would benefit from the scheme, he added. The chief minister mentioned about measures taken by his government in the last one year to improve various other sectors.

He said the pro-people programmes launched by Congress in its previous term were being continued under the coalition regime. JDS and Congress forged an alliance and came to power after elections last year threw up a hung assembly but the coalition has been rocked by discontentment among its leaders, especially Congress MLAs who failed to get ministerial berths.