The Supreme Court on Friday refused to accede to mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy’s plea to allow him to campaign in Bellary district for his younger brother, who is a BJP candidate, for the May 12 Karnataka Assembly election.
Though the most resourceful of them–G Janardhana Reddy– has been barred from entering Bellary, in accordance with his bail conditions in the illegal mining case, he is camping near Molakalmuru in Chitradurga district overseeing the campaign of his siblings as also the BJP.
Mr. Reddy wanted to campaign for two days – May 8 and 9 – in Bellary for his younger brother Somasekhara Reddy. He also wanted permission to cast his vote in Bellary on the voting day.
The BJP has publicly distanced itself from Janardhana Reddy, with party chief Amit Shah recently saying it has nothing to do with him, but ground realities suggest otherwise. The Congress party and a section of the BJP see Shah’s statement as mere public posturing. Janardhana Reddy, they say, has been given the task of galvanising the Reddy community votes for the saffron party in the region.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
