Picture : ANI / X
Former Karnataka Minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy rejoined the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The Gangavati MLA, who is an accused in an illegal mining case, had formed the ‘Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha’ (KRPP) ahead of the state assembly polls last year, snapping his two-decade-old association with the BJP.
According to ANI, Reddy today merged his KRPP with the BJP as he, along with wife Aruna Lakshmi and some family members, joined the party in the presence of its veteran leader and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, state President B Y Vijayendra, and others.
Accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case, he has been out on bail since 2015.
Several conditions were imposed by the apex court in its order which includes prohibiting him from visiting Ballari in Karnataka and Ananthpur and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh.
Because of these restrictions, he had to contest the 2023 assembly polls from Gangavati in Koppal district.
Expressing his displeasure about the way BJP had ignored him, Reddy had announced a new party last year and also took a dig at his brothers — Karunakara Reddy and Somashekar Reddy — and Sriramulu, as they remained with the BJP.
The three of them had unsuccessfully contested the assembly polls, with Reddy’s new party said to have impacted their performance in the election.
Sriramulu, a ST community leader and former Minister is now the BJP’s candidate from the Bellary (Ballari) Lok Sabha constituency.
Reddy had played an instrumental role in strengthening the BJP in the Ballari district and is still believed to enjoy a considerable clout there as well as in adjoining districts like Chitradurga, Koppal and Raichur, which could be useful for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. Reddy and his brother-in-law B V Srinivas Reddy, managing director of Obalapuram Mining Company (OMC), were arrested by the CBI on September 5, 2011.
