Plaint against mining baron Reddy over daughter's lavish wedding

November 16, 2016

Bengaluru, Nov 16: Karnataka minister and mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy is in the eye of a political storm, a day before his daughter's wedding on Wednesday.

janardhan

An activist has filed a complaint with the directorate general of income tax (investigations) questioning the extravagant nature of the wedding.

In the complaint, RTI activist T Narasimha Murthy said the arrangements have already raised eyebrows, whilepeople are standing in long queues after the demonetisation'

Tax officials refused to comment on the issue.

According to reports, Reddy has planned to recreate a model of the 16th century Vijayanagara palace at the Bengaluru Palace Grounds for the November 16 wedding.

Local media is abuzz with rumours that Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan will perform at a wedding function on Tuesday but the claim could not be confirmed.

The Bellary mining baron was arrested in 2011 on charges of illegally mining iron ore and was in prison for over three years. His company, Obulapuram Mining Company, was alleged to have shifted the borders that separated the neighbouring districts of Ballary in Karnataka and Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh to extract ore. He was granted bail in January 2015 by the Supreme Court.

The wedding of Reddy's daughter Brahmani hit the headlines for lavish replicas of Hampi and Tirumala temples erected at the venue. Reportedly, Reddy hired art directors from Bollywood to design the sets.

All eyes are now on the guests, who will attend the wedding, to be held in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

Reddy was formerly a part of the BJP. He and his two brothers shot to limelight during the 1999 Lok Sabha elections by helping Sushma Swaraj's campaign, who lost to Sonia Gandhi in the Bellary seat.

Local media in the state was rife with speculation that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders might have been asked to stay away from the event.

Reddy was the state tourism minister in BS Yeddyurappa's government before his arrest on graft charges related to the iron ore mining industry.

However, BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao told Hindustan Times that no official diktat had been issued by the party's central leadership. “Why would the party get involved in someone's private function? It is not a party function for us to issue any orders,” he said.

The wedding is set to be exclusively telecast by Janasri TV, which was launched by Reddy and his close associate B Sriramulu, who is the MP from Bellary, even though media persons from across the publications have been invited to the event.

Comments

Rikaz
 - 
Wednesday, 16 Nov 2016

Reddy is using 100 Rupees notes and cheques.....he does not have any black money....

Althaf
 - 
Wednesday, 16 Nov 2016

Nothing will happen because he is having the full support of Besharam Janatha party .

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June 5,2020

Bengaluru, June 5: Under the leadership of trouble-shooter D K Shivakumar, the Karnataka Congress is planning a political ‘ghar wapsi’ to bring back leaders who quit the party and also rope in those from other parties.

Shivakumar, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, has constituted a 12-member committee headed by former minister Allum Veerabhadrappa to liaise to anchor this effort to bring back people into the party fold. 

The committee comprises of former legislators B A Hasanabba, Ajaykumar Sarnaik, Abhaychandra Jain, Satish Sail, Prafulla Madhukar, former MPs R Dhruvanarayan and BN Chandrappa, MLA V Muniyappa, former mayor Sampath Raj, Mahila Congress leader Kripa Alva and former KPCC general secretary V Y Ghorpade. 

This move comes more than a year after over a dozen Congress MLAs defected and joined the BJP, leading to the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. Also, several influential leaders quit the party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections last year.

The constitution of this committee also coincides with disgruntlement brewing within the ruling BJP. 

“Many people who left the party and others have applied (to join Congress). Many have met me also. I felt it wouldn't be right for me to make a decision. So, this committee has been constituted,” Shivakumar said. “They will process all applications and send it to the KPCC.” 

According to Shivakumar, any person wanting to join the Congress should accept the party’s leadership and its ideology. “Importantly, they should be first accepted by the cadre. If there's no acceptance from the cadre, then what's the point?” he said.

Comments

Abdullah
 - 
Saturday, 6 Jun 2020

should not vote them even if they return to congress. They are backstabbers of voters.

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News Network
July 30,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 30: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palika (BBMP) on Wednesday issued a notice restricting the sacrifice of animals during Bakrid or other religious occasions in certain places.

This year Eid al-Adha or Bakra eid will be celebrated on August 1.

"The administration has prohibited the sacrifice of animals in public roads, footpaths, inside or outside the premises of hospitals/nursing homes, schools and colleges, temples mosques, other religious places or public places," the BBMP said in a public notice.

Person or organisation violating the notice is liable to be prosecuted under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, stated BBMP.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 8: The second instalment of flood relief funds from the Centre, announced on Monday, has left BS Yediyurappa less than cheerful, with the chief minister insisting that it is barely adequate. The CM on Tuesday said he will urge the Union government to release more.

On Monday, the Centre announced it will release Rs 669.8 crore in addition to the Rs 1,200 crore it had released earlier towards flood relief and rehabilitation. The total sum is a small fraction of the loss, which the government pegged at a staggering Rs 38,000 crore.

“The Centre has released assistance in two instalments so far, but it is inadequate given the magnitude of the damage. I will request for more funds and I am confident the Centre will oblige,” Yediyurappa told reporters.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the state last week, Yediyurappa had urged him — even openly at a function — to release funds. This followed several pleas over the past four months, which barely drew a response from the Centre. Now, the CM himself suggests it’s barely a drop in the ocean.

The opposition has been criticizing both Yediyurappa and the Centre for their handling of the situation and on Tuesday, leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah of the Congress criticised the CM for “misguiding people” on the sum released by the Centre.

Siddaramaiah tweeted, “Reports from State govt officials say only Rs 669 cr of addl funds are released in 2nd instalment as opposed to the claim of Rs 1,870 cr by Karnataka BJP leaders. At a time when manufacturing industries are closing, BJP’s fake news factory is running at full potential ".

In another tweet, he said, “Moved by the plea of chief minister, Yediyurappa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released an additional Rs 669.8 crore, taking the total amount to Rs 1,869.8 crore. BJP leaders, who are devotees of the god of lies, attempts to depict the total relief amount as 1200+1869.85 = Rs 3,069 cr is ridiculous.”

A high-level committee chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah had sanctioned the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) funds on Monday. While the Press Information Bureau claimed Rs 1,869 crore was approved on Monday, state government officials clarified that the figure included the Rs 1,200 crore released in October.

Meanwhile, sources say the two instalments is all the assistance the state can expect from the Centre towards flood relief. Sources say the Rs 1,870 crore is roughly 60% of the funding — Rs 3,000 cr— which was supposed to be allocated for Karnataka, based on an inter-ministerial team’s assessment of losses in the state.

“Compared to other states for the same period, Karnataka has received the highest amount in flood relief. We cannot expect more,” said a revenue department official, who said the government will not approach the Centre for a special package.

However, revenue minister R Ashoka said the state will pitch for the entire Rs 3,000 crore. “The state government will pursue the matter with the Centre until it releases the entire Rs 3,000 crore. The state government will cover the remainder of the Rs 38,000 crore loss. We will not go back on our word,” Ashoka said. Incidentally, the state has spent about Rs 6,000 crore on relief and rehabilitation so far.

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