Bangalore, May 19: Narendra Modi tried reading the tea leaves with chai pe charcha. The Janata Dal Secular wants to stir the pot with a full-course meal.
A party that was a force to reckon with not too long ago, the JDS has simply tweaked the Prime Minister's outreach programme during his 2014 campaign to include a wholesome meal instead of just tea as it tries to connect with people ahead of the Karnataka elections next year.
The JDS menu has been drawn up to suit the local palate by including roti and mudde - a popular steamed staple dish made of finger millet - with side dishes. And instead of just one leader like Modi, the JDS will assign a team of senior leaders to criss-cross the state to meet, dine and discuss issues with people.
Struggling to make a comeback after several setbacks in previous elections, the JDS has gone for a rather unwieldy name. To be launched in early June, the project will be called ' Karnataka asmithe: Roti mathu mudde mele pradeshika pakshagala mele charche' - Karnataka's pride: discussion over roti and mudde on the relevance of regional parties.
"We would have meals with people to discuss the relevance of regional parties and whether national parties have delivered the goods after having ruled the state for more than 60 years," Y.S.V. Datta, a close confidant of JDS patriarch and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, said today. Almost simultaneously, T. A. Saravana, a JDS member of the Legislative Council, will launch 'Namma Appaji Canteen' in south Bangalore's Basavanagudi area in honour of Gowda, who turned 85 yesterday. Party cadres address Gowda as Appaji out of respect.
The eatery will cater to the poor by selling affordable meals. But unlike the party's discussion platform, the canteen is a personal initiative of Saravana. It follows the Congress-led government setting aside Rs 100 crore in state funds to set up 'Indira Canteens' in 198 localities of Bangalore. The affordable eatery concept is based on the 'Amma Canteens' launched by the late Jayalalithaa in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
"We thought a platform was needed for the common man to sit and raise questions and issues about the relevance of regional parties and whether national parties have actually performed in Karnataka," said Datta, who will be among the senior JDS leaders to fan out across the state for the initiative.
Formed in 1999 after a split in the original Janata Dal, the JDS has been led by Gowda, who was Prime Minister in 1996. Since his son H.D. Kumaraswamy headed a state government for 20 months in a coalition with BJP, the southern party has had a tough run. In the 2013 elections, the JDS won only 40 of the 224 Assembly seats.
"We will run this (food and talk initiative) until March next year (elections are due in April-May) to get the peoples' perspective on how parties, including ours, have done so far," said Datta.
The JDS has always projected itself as a pro-farmer party, with Gowda being the self-proclaimed "mannina maga (son of the soil)" because of his rural roots. But the party lost its pan-Karnataka appeal after son Kumaraswamy started calling the shots.
With considerable clout in Bangalore, Mandya, Mysore, Hassan and Kodagu, the JDS is seen as a party primarily backed by the dominant Vokkaliga community that Gowda belongs to.
But the food-and-talk initiative, Datta said, will not be about any particular community or region. "The discussions will be open to anyone, even members of other parties, as our idea is to get maximum feedback from the people."
