When the dust settled on the drama of the Karnataka elections and HD Kumaraswamy became the Chief Minister in a coalition government, the news was music to the ears of Lakshmamma, a resident of Medar Block slum in Mysuru.
She was hopeful that a 11-year pipe dream promised by Kumaraswamy could now be revived - that of rebuilding her house.
According to her, Kumaraswamy stayed over at her house in September 2007 and observed her struggle first-hand. He learnt that 12 people shared space in the small house. Touched by Lakshmamma's plight, he promised to rebuild the hut into a full-fledged concrete house. "In 2007, Kumaraswamy visited our home and it made us very happy. When he had come, we had thought about what we would ask of him and we asked him to ensure our children's education and shelter without fail. He had promised he would do the same," Lakshmamma says.
However, the promise was never fulfilled as Kumaraswamy stepped down as Chief Minister the same year. "We later wanted to remind him of his promise but he stepped down as CM and we did not have much idea about how we can find him," she says.
Lakshmamma claims that she tried to go in search of Kumaraswamy a couple of times but decided to give up after she was unsuccessful. "We went looking for the address he had given 2 or 3 times and we are people who do cooking work. So after those two times, we decided to give up," she says.
11 years on, Kumaraswamy is once again in the limelight as Chief Minister of the state and Lakshmamma believes that this could pave the way for her long awaited dream to finally come true. "We had the belief that he would win and come back to the seat. Now that he has come we want to ask him again about his promise," she says.
She is planning to visit the Chief Minister in Bengaluru later this month and remind him of his earlier promise. "It is a little difficult to go and meet him but in any case, within 15 days we will go and meet him definitely. We have the belief that Kumaranna will give us the house," she adds.