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.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
Comments
Shah yeddi and reddy brothers all you bang your head to the wall no use in Karnataka. People choice only except bjp criminal.
Jai Hind !
Bhrashta janara party(BJP) it is proved now.
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