Bengaluru: Unable to stomach the ignominy and the hard truth of winning only one seat in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha election, and to revive the sagging fortunes of the JD(S), state chief minister HD Kumaraswamy is planning to revisit his “Grama Vastavya” or village stay concept.

Village stay is a concept employed by the chief minister in which he visits villages and stays there for some time, listens to the grievances of the villagers and tries to address them.

The CM is accompanied by his entourage and vast arrangements are made in the villages to facilitate the CM’s stay.

First practised during his term as the CM with BJP's BS Yeddyurappa as his deputy, Kumaraswamy had earned several plaudits for this move.

Now, in what comes as a makeover, the CM wants to build confidence measures among the people in the wake of the drubbing in the elections.

Sources say, “After taking over as the CM last year, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda was concerned about his son Kumaraswamy’s health as he has undergone two heart surgeries. That being the case, concepts like Grama Vastavya were hard to implement. But now, it has become imperative as the results are against the coalition.”

There’s also this complaint that the CM operates from a private hotel and is inaccessible not just to the MLAs but also to the common man.

The proposed reinvention of the concept would see the CM visiting villages from this month. As per proposed schedule, he would choose a village, stay there from 7 am to 10 pm, or if need be, stay there overnight, and return to Bengaluru. In this way, he would be visiting one village a week.

The BJP was quick to say it is a “gimmick”.

“It is too early to rejuvenate the roots. It is a pure gimmick and not even an election gimmick,” says Shreenath Sheshadri, a BJP spokesperson.