‘Use Reddy brothers to strengthen BJP in Ballari region, keep them away from other parts’

Bengaluru, Apr 28: The Bharatiya Janata Party high command this time did not hesitate to field some of its tainted leaders including mining barons for the upcoming May 12 Karnataka assembly polls. 

However, if sources are to be believed, the BJP supremo Amit Shah has reportedly advised the party’s state leaders to use Reddy brothers and their associates who had ruled the roost during BJP rule in Karnataka, only to strengthen the party in Ballari region and keep them away from other parts of the state.  

Shah also said to have issued strict instructions that G Janardhan Reddy should not campaign openly for the Assembly elections. However, his influence in Ballari region will be utilized for the benefit of the party.

Shah, who landed in Bengaluru late on Thursday, was to reach Ballari and hold a road show and preside over a party organisational meeting. However, he cancelled his Ballari trip apparently to avoid controversies.

The BJP top brass in New Delhi is also learnt to have taken a serious view of its Karnataka unit president B S Yeddyurappa sharing the dais and praising Reddy.

Congress has been mounting an attack on the BJP over its renewed ties with the controversial leader. Sources said Shah has spoken to Yeddyurappa in this regard. The party’s central leadership is said to have advised the state leaders to desist from being seen in public with Reddy.

Reddy had to spend three years in jail following charges of corruption and illegal mining by the CBI. At a recent press conference in Mysuru, Shah had disowned Reddy stating that the BJP had nothing to do with him. While Reddy is barred from entering Ballari, he has been campaigning in Molakalmuru in Chitradurga district for the BJP candidate and his close aide B Sriramulu.

He even shared the dais with Yeddyurappa and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivaraj Singh Chouhan after Sriramulu filed his nomination papers.

Another reason being cited by Shah for staying away from the mine rich district is that Janardhan Reddy’s brother G Somashekar Reddy had been given a ticket to contest from Ballari City.

In 2012, Somashekar Reddy had been accused by Andhra Pradesh’s Anti-corruption bureau of being involved in the ‘cash for bail’ scam for trying to bribe a judge to get bail for Janardhan Reddy.

Though the party planned to hold Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rallies in Ballari and Chitradurga, it is still thinking whether to go ahead with it due to the latest controversy. The party does not want to put the Prime Minister in an embarrassing situation, a leader in New Delhi is quoted as saying by a newspaper.