Coastal tourism policy on the anvil, says D.K. Shivakumar

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Sunday that the State government intends to bring out a separate tourism policy for coastal Karnataka to create employment opportunities and promote tourism.

Speaking to press persons in Udupi, Mr. Shivakumar said that the consultation process on framing the policy had begun. Tourism minister H.K. Patil has been instructed to work on framing the policy. The government wants to prevent the migration of youth from the coastal belt seeking employment elsewhere. The policy will align with the same.

Refrain from caste politics

Meanwhile, addressing the Congress workers in Udupi, Mr. Shivakumar, also the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), asked the party leaders and workers to refrain from indulging in “caste politics” and take people of all castes along with the party.

Quoting an example, Mr. Shivakumar said that in his Kanakapura Assembly constituency, 99% of Brahmins voted for him. “Don’t be under the impression that all Brahmins are BJP voters,” he said.

Asking the workers to shun the habit of appeasing individual leaders, he said that workers should strive for strengthening the party. “Vyakti pooje bidi, paksha pooje maadi,” he said.

Mr. Shivakumar said that the party leaders and workers should make efforts to win at least nine Assembly seats in the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in the 2028 Assembly election. The leaders should strive for the same, he said

Prominence to winning candidates

He said that while selecting the candidates for the next Assembly election the party will give prominence to winning candidates and not individuals per se.

The leaders and workers should introspect why the Congress could not win seats in the last two Assembly elections in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, while the party was able to win seats in the neighbouring Chikkamagaluru, Uttara Kannada, and Kodagu, he said.

Asking the party leaders to chalk out Assembly-wise programmes to reach out ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bheem and Jai Samvidhan’ message of the party to people, he said that the party will announce a separate programme on the occasion of Congress government completing two years in power.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that the State is preparing to face zilla and taluk panchayat elections, and the process of fixing constituency-wise reservations has begun.