The launch of a new party by former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy has heated up the electoral landscape in some parts of the state.
His decision to float the party and field his wife in the Ballari city assembly constituency, from where her elder brother G Somasekhara Reddy is the BJP MLA, has created a rift in the family.
Reddy, who is an accused in an illegal mining case, recently formed the “Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha” (KRPP), breaking his two-decade-long association with the BJP.
The KRPP is concentrated in a few districts of the overall Kalyan-Karnataka (earlier Hyderabad-Karnataka) region, notably Ballari, Koppal and Raichur.
With just a few months left for the Karnataka Assembly elections to be held in April-May, the launch of KRPP has sparked a debate in political circles about its potential electoral impact.
Reddy, who re-entered Karnataka’s electoral politics from outside Ballari district, has also announced that he will contest the assembly elections from Gangavathi in Koppal district.
The announcement of a new political party is largely seen as an attempt by Reddy to reassert his political credentials.
Many political leaders and observers of Reddy’s political backyard in Bellary are of the opinion that he is handicapped by the court-imposed ban on his entry into his home district.
Furthermore, divisions within the family, no strong caste support, and the lack of support for a strong caste-based leader such as his longtime friend B. Sriramulu from the Valmiki community (ST) are likely to hurt his party’s prospects. .
A leader said, “He is also likely to be seen and projected as an outsider by the opponents during the elections, as the Reddy community is Telugu-speaking and has a large base in neighboring Andhra Pradesh.”
However, some cautioned about Reddy being a “champion in the art of influencing” to his advantage, pointing out that he had conducted “Operation Kamala” to lure opposition MLAs to the BJP with the aim of securing a majority in 2008. It was successfully demonstrated during
Another leader said, “One cannot forget that it has money power, and may try to break the opposition party at the local level, in which case the danger is high for the BJP, and Congress and JD(S) Might be of some use.” In Ballari, the impact may be marginal or limited in nature.
Reddy was politically inactive for nearly 12 years after he was arrested by the CBI for his alleged role in the mining scam.
Ahead of the 2018 assembly elections, the JP Nadda-led party dissociated itself from him, with the then BJP national president Amit Shah saying that “the BJP has nothing to do with Janardhana Reddy”. By “treating and neglecting them”, a party functionary said, over the years, the KRPP party may have had some influence on the BJP by cutting into its votes in some constituencies, particularly in the Bellary belt.
Reddy, accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case, has been out on bail since 2015 and the top court had imposed several conditions in its order, including barring him from visiting Bellary in Karnataka and Anantapur and Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh.
That is why Reddy decided to contest from Gangavathi, a constituency bordering Ballari district and about 60 km from Ballari city.
Aiming to retain his hold in his home district, Reddy has recently announced that his wife Aruna Lakshmi will contest the upcoming assembly elections from the Ballari city assembly constituency.
Reddy’s elder brothers, G Karunakara Reddy and G Somasekhara Reddy are BJP MLAs from Harapanahalli and Ballari City assembly constituencies respectively, and his close friend Sriramulu is also a BJP MLA and minister from Molakalmuru in Chitradurga district. He has made it clear that he is with the BJP and has nothing to do with the new party.
If the BJP again fields Somasekhara Reddy from the Ballari City assembly constituency, it will be an electoral battle between the family members.
Expressing displeasure about Janardhana Reddy’s decision to field his wife from Ballari town, Somashekar Reddy recalled the “sacrifices” he had made for the sake of his younger brother, which included going to jail for 63 days.
“He (Janardhanan Reddy) did not pay attention to what I did for him, my sister-in-law (Aruna) also once told me that she was indebted to me, even her daughter said the same thing … But today they are contesting against me, as far as I know God and people know what work I have done, they will bless me and I will win with a big margin.
There were reports that Reddy’s relations with his other brother Karunakar Reddy and friend Sriramulu had soured and they are no longer on talking terms.
Reddy’s daughter Brahmani has also announced her entry into the political arena. Some political observers and those who were earlier close to Reddy believe that the KRPP may be financially strong, but has lost winnable candidates in several constituencies. Will face the challenge of finding one in which the party wants to contest the election.
“Finding winnable candidates will be difficult for Reddy. A leader from Bellary said on the condition of anonymity that since he did not turn up with his brothers and close friend Sriramulu, his supporters who are now with the BJP would not want to take the risk of joining him.
However, it cannot be ruled out that KRPP may find some takers after the announcement of tickets, as those denied tickets by other parties may find a new platform in this organisation.
He said, “…if such a jump is made in favor of KRPP for the ticket, it may have some minor impact on the BJP in particular, but it will not be huge.”
Reddy, the managing director of Oblapuram Mining Company (OMC), and his brother-in-law BV Srinivasa Reddy were arrested by the CBI on September 5, 2011 from Bellary and sent to jail in Hyderabad.
The company has been accused of changing mining lease boundary markings and indulging in illegal mining in the Bellary Reserved Forest area spread across Karnataka’s Ballari and Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur districts.
Reddy first came into the political limelight during the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, when he campaigned for the late Sushma Swaraj, who contested and lost against Sonia Gandhi from Bellary.
With a prosperous mining business and money power, he extended his clout to the BJP during the 2004 elections, which delivered a hung mandate. Reddy, however, ensured that Sriramulu was made a minister in the JD(S)-BJP coalition government formed in 2006, while he himself became an MLC.
In the 2008 assembly elections, when the BJP fell short of a majority by a few seats, he was among those who played a key role in “Operation Kamala” – by ensuring the defection of MLAs from other parties and tickets to the saffron party. But his re-election – which helped the BJP form a government on its own for the first time in Karnataka under party strongman BS Yeddyurappa.
Reddy, who later became a minister in the Yeddyurappa cabinet, tried to exercise control over the affairs of the government and other departments, did not get along with some of the Chief Minister’s loyalists such as Shobha Karandlaje, and gradually emerged as a rebel, even That even threatened the stability of the government a couple of times.
Criticism began to surround him and his activities, particularly in Ballari district and surrounding areas, where he reportedly ran the affairs and administration with a tight grip, leading to the coining of the term “Ballari Republic” by the Congress and its opponents. Went.
In 2011, a Lokayukta report on illegal mining activities in Ballari district held Reddy responsible for defrauding the government, which eventually led to his arrest and jail term.
The BJP subsequently gradually began distancing itself from Reddy, as he had become a “liability to the party”, according to political observers.
Shah, as the BJP President before the 2018 assembly elections, finally made it categorically clear that Janardhana Reddy is not a part of the BJP.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)