HD Kumaraswamy.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H D Kumaraswamy has called on MPs from Karnataka, besides legislators from the JD(S), to consider HMT wristwatches as a gifting option.
Leading by example, Kumaraswamy gave an HMT watch to his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy as a gift on the occasion of the Gauri Ganesha festival. Sources close to the minister confirmed to DH that Kumaraswamy had bought two HMT watches, one of which he had kept for himself.
In a post on X, Nikhil proudly displayed the gift he had received from his father. “HMT was once the heartbeat of the people of this country. My father gifted me an HMT wristwatch today. I request youngsters of this country to buy and wear HMT wristwatches,” Nikhil wrote on X.
Lok Sabha MP for Khandwa constituency in Madhya Pradesh Gyaneshwar Patil had gifted him a pair of HMT watches, and asked him to take steps to revive the once thriving company, Kumaraswamy said. “Patil told me about the demand for HMT watches in Madhya Pradesh,” Kumaraswamy added.
JD(S) floor leader in the Legislative Assembly Suresh Babu too gifted Kumaraswamy an HMT wristwatch when the latter was appointed Union Minister of Steel and Heavy Industries. Not very long ago, HMT wristwatches were immensely popular among consumers in India.
Reviving the company’s lost glory is a mission close to Kumaraswamy’s heart, and the Union Minister has been very vocal in expressing his intentions to resuscitate HMT. To that end, Kumaraswamy has visited all the units of HMT, besides the one in Bengaluru – in Hyderabad, Ajmer, and Kerala. Sources said that Kumaraswamy is planning to gift an HMT wristwatch to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.