Hubballi | Belagavi: Nearly a decade after being labelled anti-Lingayat for failing to transfer power to community strongman, B.S. Yeddyurappa during his coalition government with the BJP, state JD(S) chief, H D Kumaraswamy has set the ball rolling to revive the party in the Lingayat stronghold of North Karnataka.

The former Chief Minister and his wife, Anita held a housewarming ceremony on Friday for the bungalow the party has rented here to allow him to spend more time in the region and strengthen the party base in its districts ahead of the next Assembly poll.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kumaraswamy appealed to JD(S) workers to launch a ”Ab Ki Bar Kumaraswamy Sarkar” campaign immediately and promised to waive off loans of farmers, weavers and fishermen if the party came to power in the state.

“Reviving JD(S) here will prove an acid test for me. But I have a vision for implementation of irrigation projects, providing employment generation and infrastructure development in the region," he added.

But with many leaders deserting the JDS for the Congress and BJP during the previous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections owing to the failure of both party supremo, H D Deve Gowda and Mr Kumaraswamy to campaign in the region, the party has an uphill task reviving its base here. North Karnataka has turned into a BJP fortress since the last poll owing to the Modi wave that swept it.

The JDS is,however, hoping to win over disgruntled Lingayat leaders from other parties as part of its revival strategy and woo the people by reminding them of the welfare schemes launched by Mr Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister.

Earlier speaking to reporters at Belagavi airport, the JDS leader said his aim was to see a farmer-friendly government come to power in the 2018 assembly elections. He revealed that he planned to contest the next poll from either Belagavi-North, Belagavi-Rural or Kittur.