Bengaluru, (DHNS): JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy, who underwent a heart surgery on September 23, will be discharged from hospital on Monday. However, he will remain out of action for nearly a month.

“The doctors have advised me to rest for 20 to 25 days. I am completely alright now. I am planning to tour the state from November this year...I request the party workers and my well-wishers not to try to meet me in the next 20 to 25 days,” he said at a press conference here on Sunday.

Kumaraswamy addressed journalists for the first time after undergoing a valve-replacement surgery at Apollo Hospital.

He said the party workers need not panic and that he will be a normal man soon. Even Bill Clinton (former US president) has been operated upon twice. Manmohan Singh (former prime minister) has been operated upon thrice. Still they are active, he added.

Kumaraswamy said he suffered a heart attack in Mumbai while he was on his way to Israel last month. “I have received quality treatment at the hospital here and I believe that it (post-surgery) is my second birth. I am of the opinion that such medical care should be available to the common man,” he added.

The doctors, who operated upon him, said that he has recovered about 90%. About 10% of recovery is pending. He has been advised to adopt a disciplined lifestyle in the coming days. The valve that has been replaced will last for more than 25 years if a strict routine is maintained, the doctors said.

Kumaraswamy criticised the government for failing to prevent the problem of flooding in Bengaluru and address the woes of farmers whose crops have been damaged due to heavy rains across the state.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is under an impression that people are happy with his administration. “People are not fools to get carried away by his publicity gimmicks and caste-based politics. People will teach an appropriate lesson in the next election.”

On Siddaramaiah claiming that he will offer pooja as the chief minister during the next year’s Mysuru Dasara too, Kumaraswamy said B S Yeddyurappa had claimed that he will remain chief minister for 10 years. But, everybody is aware what happened later. “He (Siddaramaiah) thinks that the JD(S) has become weak after my surgery and the BJP hardly exists. But he is wrong.”

Though farmers across the state are suffering due to rain havoc, Siddaramaiah has not bothered to meet them. Instead of visiting him at the hospital, he could have met the aggrieved farmers, he said and advised him not to take the plight of farmers lightly.

Kumaraswamy also took exception to the BJP’s plan to take out Parivarthana Yatra in November, saying that it should introspect on its misdeeds in the past.

Though the BJP leaders had claimed that they will solve the Mahadayi river water dispute, nothing has been done so far, he added.