For all the hoopla created by the Reddys, the wafer thin margin of Shantha is astonishning. She also happens to be the sister of Health Minister Sreeramulu.
Ministers Janardhana Reddy and Karunkara Reddy virtually have made Bellary as their fiefdom. Sreeramulu too is in the Reddy’s coterie. When it comes to the selection of the candidate, the BJP state leaders had pressured the Reddys to field a woman from Bellary as the party failed to get a suitable candidate from elsewhere to field. The overconfident Janardhana Reddy had decalred during the campaign - “Shantha will not only make it to the LS but she will also be the Union Minister. The victory is already ours but only the victory margin has to be known”. And, now Reddy knows the margin.
Even the Congress had not expected its candidate N Y Hanumanthappa, retired high court chief justice of Orissa, to give such a strong fight to Shantha. Of the 8 assembly constituencies in Bellary, the BJP has 7 MLAs. Surprisingly, in only two assembly constituencies - Bellary City and Kudligi - Shantha secured good lead. Probably banning of mining in patta land (agriculture land) by the Reddys has not gone wellwith the rural masses.
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