Doctors advise HDK to cut poll tours, focus on health

Bengaluru: JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy has been forced to put off his ambitious grama vastavya (village stay) programme, following strict advice from doctors, who have asked him to slow down his pace of poll campaign.

Kumaraswamy, who underwent a second heart surgery September 2017, is still highly prone to chest infections.

In fact, soon after he undertook his first grama vastavya at Mugulavalli in Mudigere taluk of Chikkamagalur on November 7 last year, Kumaraswamy fell ill, which restricted him to his residence in Bengaluru for nearly 10 days after that.

After his surgery on September 23 last year, Kumaraswamy had announced that he would undertake grama vastavya in 50 Assembly constituencies by the end of December 2017. For this purpose, the party had even readied a Rs 1 crore, custom-made luxury bus - Karnataka Vikasa Vahini.

All set, he restarted his campaigning activities by launching the Kumara Parva Vikasa Yatre from Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru, which was followed by the village stay in Chikkamagaluru.

However, the long hours, travelling and over exertion took a toll on him. Leading cardiologist and Kumaraswamy's family doctor Dr C N Manjunath told DH that he had categorically asked his brother-in-law to put a stop to the grama vastavya programme.

"I have advised him not to take up any more village stays. Though his heart is functioning normally, the minute he starts over exerting himself, he is developing infections. It's not that he is susceptible to infections all the time. But, everytime he is surrounded by large crowds who speak close to his ears and mouth, he is bound to develop an infection," Dr Manjunath said.

Kumaraswamy suffered extreme exhaustion during the grama vastavya because he left Mysuru late and reached Chikkamgalur at 3.30 am, following which he addressed a series of meetings, he added.

Sources said that upon hearing Kumaraswamy's prognosis, his father H D Deve Gowda is said to have advised him to cut short his statewide tours as much as possible. But, Kumaraswamy is not paying much heed to the concerns aired. Though he spent a large part of December in Bengaluru, he is presently on a three-day tour in Belagavi and Bagalkot.

He is scheduled to return to Bengaluru on Sunday, following which he will be travelling to Mysuru, Mangaluru and Ramanagaram. Kumaraswamay's close associates however maintained that grama vastavya was not entirely off the agenda.