Narayana Swamy - Mysore
Political Analyst - Daijiworld

Bangalore, Nov 13: The Bellary bypoll is turning into a colourful drama, with new and interesting developments every day. Some of these are in full public view, and rest behind the screen.

The ruling BJP seems to be facing the music every other day. The moment they solve one issue, another appears from nowhere!

The new development has created ripples in the Karnataka political arena. If Sriramulu's close followers are to be believed, former tourism minister who is in Hyderabad jail on illegal mining charges had reportedly written a 'secret' letter to former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa seeking his 'blessings' and support for his close friend Sriramulu.

The letter was delivered by none other than Sriramulu himself. When Sriramulu met Janardhana Reddy last week at Hyderabad jail, he handed over the letter to him and asked him to pass it over to Yeddyurappa, sources said.

The single-page letter was written by a deeply emotional and apologetic Reddy, where he reportedly mentioned that he had realised his mistake (regarding his betrayal to Yeddyurappa and taking several MLAs to resorts in Hyderabad and Goa to bring Yeddyurappa down). He regretted the mistake, and requested Yeddyurappa to stay away from public campaign in Bellary.

Earlier, Sadananda Gowda, chief minister of Karnataka had confirmed that Yeddyurappa would campaign in Bellary for BJP.

'If you stay away from BJP's Bellary bypoll campaign, Sriramulu will win the election for sure. I will return this favour in the near future," Reddy reportedly wrote in the letter.

On Wednesday November 9 Sriramulu met Yeddyurappa to hand over the letter and sought his blessings emerge victorious in the bypoll.

Sources close to Yeddyurappa say that the former CM will not participate in the election campaign. Though his intention is to support Sriramulu indirectly, some BJP sources deny this and say that BJP high command is not in favour of fielding the former CM for campaign as he is just back from jail and fighting several cases.

In another interesting move, Sriramulu has requested the election commission to grant him 'ceiling fan' as a symbol. Incidentally, this is the symbol of YSR Congress, a new political party headed by Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh. This development gives a strong indication that very soon Karnataka may see another political party under the Reddys' umbrella. It won't be a surprise if the Reddys were to merge with YSR Congress in Hyderabad, and support JD(S) in Karnataka.

Kumaraswamy has already taken a firm stand that no JD(S) candidate will be fielded for Bellary bypoll.

It would be interesting to see how BJP reacts to these developments in the coming days.