HDK plans to tour State in February

JD(S) State President H D Kumaraswamy has decided to la­unch a statewide tour from February to strengthen the party.

Sources said he has convened a meeting of the party leaders at a private resort on the outskirts of Bangalore on January 18 to finalise his plan. The former chief minister wants to highlight corruption and misrule in the ruling BJP during his visit to all the districts.

He is also likely to identify the probable candidates for the elections and hold strategy sessions with the local party leaders of all Assembly constituencies, the sources said. The JD(S) won the byelections to two Zilla Panchayat seats – Kadur in Chikmagalur ZP and Vemgal in Kolar ZP – held recently.

Prisoners’ release
Kumaraswamy on Monday wrote to Governor H R Bhardwaj, urging him to release prisoners on humanitarian grounds on the occasion of Republic Day on January 26.
The letter stated that not a single prisoner has been released on humanitarian grounds in the last three years due to bad policies of the BJP government.

Hundreds of prisoners, who should have been freed, are still serving sentence. The Governor may have been forced to withhold giving consent to release prisoners as a result of lapses and mistakes committed by the government, he said, adding that an opportunity should be given to the prisoners to join the mainstream to lead a normal life.