Karnataka Assembly Elections: Reddy brothers caught in a corridor of uncertainty

Gali Janardhana Reddy, the founder president of Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha (KRPP), has registered a victory, but he cannot celebrate. Of the 46 candidates his party fielded, Reddy could not ensure the victory of any other candidate, including his wife Aruna Lakshmi, who contested from the Ballari city constituency.

Political observers say there had been a steady decline of the Reddy brothers in the region. “Since 2011, when Janardhana Reddy was arrested for his role in illegal mining and the subsequent order from Supreme Court, barring Janardhana Reddy from entering Ballari district, dealt a strong blow to his ambition of controlling the politics of Ballari. The family feud has also led to the debacle of the Reddy brothers in the polls,” said an observer.

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Janardhana Reddy, who along with his brothers and friends, had the ‘power’ to install or destabilise the BJP government in the state in 2008, now stands helpless. Sitting MLAs Somashekar Reddy (Ballari city) and Karunakara Reddy (Harapanahalli), along with Transport Minister B Sriramulu, were accused of exploiting the mining-rich area of undivided Ballari district. So much so that, their home turf came to be known as the ‘Republic of Ballari’.

However, poll results have indicated that the Reddy brothers are no more the ‘movers and shakers' that they once were, as a majority of those involved in illegal mining have been defeated.

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Somashekar Reddy lost the seat to Congress’ Nara Bharath Reddy. It appears as though his sister-in-law, Aruna Lakshmi, who contested from the newly-minted Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha, ate into the votes of the BJP.

Similarly, Karunakar Reddy lost his seat to independent candidate Latha Mallikarjun, daughter of MP M P Prakash.

Sriramulu, the transport minister was humiliated by Congress sitting MLA B Nagendra, once a friend. Nagendra was accused of illegal mining, with 42 pending cases.

Another major player in the illegal mining cases, Tourism Minister Anand Singh, too failed to ensure his son Siddharth Singh win the Vijayanagara constituency seat. Anand Singh had won the seat after contesting by-polls in 2019, after defecting from the Congress to BJP.