Subscribe
A father who works as an autorickshaw driver walks into his home carrying a box of sweets. His daughter asks what the occasion is. The answer is not a birthday, a festival or a family celebration. It is that the Karnataka government has completed 100 days in office.
What follows in the popular Kannada television serial Shri Gandhadha Gudi is a roughly three-minute conversation about the DK Shivakumar government’s achievements — from jobs and an AI university to healthcare, farmers, and investments outside Bengaluru.
“What is the occasion?” Vaibhavi, the female lead, asks.
“Our government has completed 100 days. They have organised a programme to celebrate it. That is where I got these sweets. This government is doing well for the people,” her father replies.
The conversation then turns into a catalogue of government initiatives. Vaibhavi speaks about the CM Udyog Mission and employment opportunities for young people, efforts to take farmers’ produce to international markets, Karnataka’s proposed AI University, strengthening rural healthcare and the Anti-Narcotic Mission.
“Where is the country’s first AI University? In our Karnataka. New opportunities will also be available in the fields of education and innovation,” she says.
The characters also discuss the Beyond Bengaluru initiative, with Vaibhavi saying that new companies and investments outside Bengaluru are creating employment opportunities. Affordable housing and efforts to deliver government services through mobile phones also feature in the exchange.
“May Karnataka continue to progress like this. May the people live with satisfaction,” the father says at the end of the sequence.
The scene was scripted into the serial as the D K Shivakumar government marked 100 days in office. And it was not the only entertainment programme to carry the government’s 100-day message.
Messaging across content formats
On September 10, Bigg Boss Kannada host and actor Sudeep segued into a message praising Shivakumar’s government and listing its achievements.
“What does it take to complete 100 days? Only a strong and committed leader can finish a century and lead an entire team,” Sudeep said at the end of the episode.
“It isn’t easy to survive 100 days inside the Bigg Boss house and win,” he said. “Similarly, our Karnataka government, led by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, is working towards making the state even better.”
What followed was essentially a government report card delivered from the Bigg Boss stage.
Sudeep highlighted the establishment of Bharat Jodo Youth Clubs across Karnataka, saying they would create a platform for 10 lakh rural and urban youngsters and promote leadership, sports and social harmony. He also spoke about the launch of the Prajasewa department to address issues faced by the public.
“D K Shivakumar’s leadership has a vision of building a strong and progressive Karnataka. Big congratulations to this government that completed 100 days,” Sudeep said.
The government’s 100-day publicity push comes against the backdrop of a significant change in Karnataka’s Congress leadership.
The Congress returned to power in Karnataka in May 2023, with Siddaramaiah becoming Chief Minister and Shivakumar his deputy. Shivakumar was then the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president and one of the party’s key leaders during the election campaign.
For the next three years, speculation persisted over whether and when Shivakumar would take over as Chief Minister. The leadership question was eventually settled in May 2026, when the Congress high command cleared the change of guard.
Siddaramaiah resigned as Chief Minister on May 28, and Shivakumar was elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party on May 30. He was sworn in as Karnataka’s 25th Chief Minister on June 3, with G Parameshwara as Deputy Chief Minister.
Shivakumar completed 100 days in office on September 10. The government held a programme at Vidhana Soudha under the banner Drudha Karnataka Sankalpa – Shatakada Patha, Pragatiya Ratha (Resolutions for a Resolute Karnataka – Path of a Century, Chariot of Progress)— a celebration of his first 100 days and a presentation of the government’s initiatives.
The milestone also allowed the Congress government to project continuity with its existing welfare agenda while putting Shivakumar’s stamp on the administration. Siddaramaiah, who inaugurated the 100-day programme, publicly backed the government but also urged it to continue implementing the Congress’s five guarantees and fulfil its remaining electoral promises.
