H D Kumaraswamy's sudden visit to Andhra Pradesh, political or personal?

Bengaluru: It was an unannounced visit, taking political and media circles by surprise. When on Thursday night, a cryptic “reserved” appeared against Chief Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy’s engagements for Friday, not much was made of it as it was assumed he was still in Delhi. But by Friday noon it became clear that he was much closer to home, in Andhra Pradesh, as a picture of him with his AP counterpart, N. Chandrababu Naidu popped up on a WhatsApp group. The visit was not announced and no one seemed to have a clue what it was about as neither man chose to clear the mystery either.

While those close to Mr Kumaraswamy claimed he was in Andhra Pradesh to discuss Third Front politics, his father and Janata Dal (Secular) supremo, H.D. Deve Gowda told reporters he was on a personal visit. Mr Gowda, who was speaking to the media after a meeting with the British High Commissioner, was responding to a question on whether Mr Kumaraswamy and his wife, Anita were in AP to find a bride for their son, Nikhil. Not giving away much, Mr Gowda only deepened the mystery by saying, “It is purely a personal visit and if they find a girl for their son, we will host a wedding.”

But by the afternoon, both Mr Kumaraswamy and the family of businessman, Koteswara Rao in Andhra Pradesh, who he reportedly visited, clarified there was no such proposal. But the rumours continued on a few WhatsApp groups with even an online link popping up to a picture of the girl the Kumaraswamy family is allegedly interested in. Whether this is another case of “fake news” on WhatsApp or of the popular saying “there’s no smoke without fire” remains to be seen.