“It was a very small house in a narrow lane of a slum. I felt sorry for the inmates the moment I entered the house. I asked, how many children live in this house? They said, ‘Three girls’. I felt really bad thinking about their plight since having privacy or a decent washroom definitely looked like a luxury there. What do you do? I asked the eldest daughter. ‘I have completed M. Tech, sir,’ she said! The second daughter was preparing for her CA final, and the third one was studying B. Com. I was delighted!”
“We visited another house. It was probably the most beautiful house that I ever saw. I kind of fell in love with the house itself! A very old couple live there. They have grown-up children, all well-educated and settled in different countries. But here, I went speechless as to how their evenings may be. They were clearly not smiling.”
These are the two incidents from many that former minister and current BJP MLA of Rajajinagar constituency in Bengaluru Suresh Kumar S said he encountered in the past few months.
With the Karnataka assembly elections due this year, Kumar began his ‘Mane Mana Bheti’ (visiting homes and hearts) drive in last June-end to reach out to every person in his constituency. His team targeted visiting 1,500 homes in just two months. “But we visited 1,500 homes by August itself,” said the ex-minister.
They would start the day at 7 am and would take a break around 10.30 am when everybody would be busy going to schools, colleges and their places of work. Then, they would restart their programme around 4.30 pm and continue till 9 at night. “This gave our party workers zeal to visit more homes,” Kumar explained.
Life now seems “different” and “much up close and personal” because of the visits, said the MLA. “We have visited homes of people across social strata irrespective of which political party they favour. From a daily wage labourer to that of a top scientist, we have met them all. But, this is not over yet,” said Kumar.
The MLA said confidently that there is not a single, with the engineering degree, unemployed in the areas he visited. For those from other educational backgrounds, who were trying to find a job, were given help wherever possible.
“This is not a political exercise; this is what as a representative of the Rajajinagar constituency I am doing wholeheartedly. Also, our party workers are understanding the challenges to serve people, how to identify the needs and what are the ways to help and strengthen them. A good life lesson indeed,” said Suresh Kumar S to News18.com.
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