Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (DC)
Bengaluru, Apr 27: Following widespread criticism from the public as well as continued attack by the opposition parties BJP top brass has decided not to share stage with the tainted mining barrons Reddy brothers ahead of assembly polls due on May 12.
It may be recalled that tainted Gali Janardhana Reddy was seen campaigning for the BJP candidate Sriramulu in Monakalmuru and also in Badami. Following instructions from the party, Reddy too has reportedly agreed to stay away from campaigning to avoid any further embarrassment to the party.
The BJP high command has given a strict instruction to Reddy to maintain low profile from the media. He has been also asked not to give any controversial statement to the media.
BJP chief Amit Shah was supposed to hold rallies in Ballari on Friday, but following criticism from various corners, he cancelled the rally to avoid further embarrassment of sharing stage with Reddy brothers. PM Modi too is likely to follow Shah in this matter and might skip rallies in Reddy bastions.
The BJP has given tickets to seven members from the Reddy clan who were involved in an alleged Rs 50,000 crore mining scam. The move by the BJP to give these tainted leaders tickets in the assembly polls has backfired when they have made 'fighting corruption' as their main agenda with opposition parties targeting it on everyday basis.
Rahul Gandhi too during his rallies has targeted the BJP and PM Modi for their 'double-standard' on fighting corruption. Gandhi has attacked the BJP for once again using tainted Reddy brothers ahead of assembly polls. Siddaramaiah too in an interview to a news channel had targeted the BJP on the same issue. "The Reddy brothers are the biggest criminals in the history of Karnataka. They looted state with impunity. The BJP has once again embraced them. They have got seven nominations. Yeddyurappa's own son has not got the party ticket. One can easily understand that if the BJP comes to power, it will be the Reddys who will be ruling the state, not Yeddyurappa. It is another matter that the BJP will never come to power in Karnataka," he said.
Meanwhile Yeddyurappa clarified by saying that the BJP has not given ticket to Janardhana Reddy. “Reddy brothers, except Janardhana Reddy, are with us. Janardhana Reddy has not asked for any ticket for assembly elections and we are not going to give a ticket. He is going to help in Ballari and a few other districts where we can get 15-20 seats easily because of Janardhana... People are happy that he is supporting us," he said.
BJP chief Amit Shah had publicly announced that the party had nothing to do with Reddy. Another BJP spokesperson Vamanacharya as well as union minister Prakash Javadekar tried to defend party's move by saying that Janardhana Reddy was not a star campaigner for the BJP and was campaigning 'on his own'. The local BJP leaders in Ballari and Badami too have asked the high command to stop Reddy from campaigning for Sriramulu, sources say.
The Reddys were sent to jail in 2011 during Yeddyurappa's tenure as chief minister after former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde filed a detailed report on the scam. Hegde recently in an interview expressed his displeasure over BJP projecting tainted Yeddyurappa as their CM candidate and also for entertaining the Reddys.