The idiot’s guide to Karnataka’s mining lords and their role in elections

From BJP to Congress to JD(S), everyone needs a little help from the mining czars.

WrittenBy:M Gautham Machaiah
Date:
Article image
  • Share this article on whatsapp

When Karnataka last went to polls in 2013, the illegal iron ore mining in Ballari was a major factor that turned the tables in favour of the Congress. This time around, the issue is no longer relevant but the mine lords who were cooling their heels until now are back in the centre-stage, with all three major parties issuing tickets to the scam-tainted to contest the elections.

subscription-appeal-image

Support Independent Media

The media must be free and fair, uninfluenced by corporate or state interests. That's why you, the public, need to pay to keep news free.

Contribute

The infamous Ballari brothers led by Gali Janardhana Reddy are alleged to be the kingpins of the multi-crore scandal, which reached its peak after the BJP government led by BS Yeddyurappa came to power in 2008. Their clout within the BJP was such that while Janardhana Reddy became the tourism minister, his brother Karunakara Reddy was made the revenue minister. Another brother Somashekara Reddy took over as the chairman of the Karnataka Milk Federation, while close family friend B Sriramulu who is often referred to as the “fourth brother” was made the health and family welfare minister.

Soon, the Reddys began to assume they were unassailable. When the then chief minister Yeddyurappa’s confidant Shobha Karandlaje began emerging as a power centre, they demanded her immediate dismissal from the ministry. When the chief minister refused, Janardhana Reddy confined about 40 BJP MLAs to a resort and threatened to bring down the government. Yeddyurappa had to eat humble pie and drop his favourite minister.

As the mining gang was unabashedly displaying their power, wealth and arrogance, little did they know that public sentiment was slowly brewing against them for plundering the state’s natural resources. But their most audacious move came when on the floor of the legislature, they challenged the Congress to step into their fiefdom of Ballari.

The present chief minister Siddaramaiah who was then the Opposition leader accepted the challenge and led a 320-km padayatra from Bengaluru to Ballari where at a public gathering attended by lakhs of supporters, he thundered, “The Congress will hoist its flag on Vidhana Soudha.” His words were to come true soon.

In July 2011, the then Lokayukta Santosh Hegde submitted a damning report to the Governor indicting the Reddy brothers, their companies and cohorts on charges of illegal mining and transporting of ore. With the state government turning the other way, the mining barons had created a “Republic of Ballari” where only their writ ran, Justice Hegde said.

This report cost not just the Reddy brothers, but also Yeddyurappa their jobs. While Yeddyurappa had to spend three weeks in Bengaluru central jail, Janardhana Reddy who was arrested in September 2011 by the CBI, remained in a Hyderabad prison for over three years until he was released on conditional bail in January 2015.

Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa and Sriramulu who were sidelined by the BJP, quit the party on the eve of the Assembly elections in 2013 to form their own outfits and the Congress romped home to power on the back of the mining scandal, among other issues. However, following a rapprochement both of them returned to their parent party in 2014, just before the Lok Sabha elections.

Ever since the schedule for the May 2018 elections was announced, rumours were rife that Janardhana Reddy and his team would be back in the reckoning. But BJP chief Amit Shah stoutly denied this when he announced at a press conference, “There is no connection between the party and Janardhana Reddyji.”  But that was not to be.

When the list of BJP candidates was announced, the stamp of Janardhana Reddy was more than evident, with the names of his brothers Karunakara Reddy, Somashekara Reddy and half-a-dozen relatives and friends figuring prominently. As Janardhana Reddy has been barred from entering Ballari by the Supreme Court, he has now moved into a farmhouse in neighbouring Chitradurga district from where he micromanages the campaign of BJP candidates in surrounding areas.

In the case of Reddy-loyalist Sriramulu, the BJP also made an exception to its rule that no MP barring Yeddyurappa will be allowed to contest the Assembly elections. Sriramulu who is also being projected as the deputy chief minister is contesting from two constituencies – Molkalmuru in Chitradurga district and against chief minister Siddaramaiah in Badami.

However, another MP and an old rival of the Reddys, Shobha Karandlaje was not as lucky as Sriramulu as she was refused a ticket to contest from Yeshwantpur in Bengaluru. Yeddyurappa too had to face acute embarrassment when his son BY Vijayendra who was pitted against Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra in Varuna, was denied a ticket at the last minute on the grounds that it would lead to criticism of dynastic politics. To add insult to injury, Yeddyurappa had to publicly acknowledge that he had forgiven the Reddys for all the trouble they had caused him when he was the chief minister.

The rehabilitation of the Reddy brothers who were outcastes until the other day was now complete, while the Yeddyurappa-Shobha duo had been cut to size.

With the fortunes of the Reddys changing, the CBI had sought to close all cases against them at the preliminary stage itself owing to lack of evidence. But this was thwarted by the Karnataka government, which quickly withdrew all the cases from the CBI and handed them over to an SIT of the Lokayukta for further investigation.

Ironically, the Congress which had gone hammer and tongs against the mining lords during the previous elections has now not only admitted two of them into the party, but has also issued them tickets, prompting Yeddyurappa to remark that Siddaramaiah is suffering from amnesia.

The Congress has fielded BS Anand, a former BJP minister and two-time MLA from Vijayanagar, while independent candidate B Nagendra who had won twice earlier from Kudligi has been given the ticket from Ballari (ST). Both were arrested in the illegal mining scam and have several cases pending against them. Even at the point of joining the Congress, Nagendra had created some embarrassing moments by gifting party chief Rahul Gandhi with a gold plated idol worth Rs 60 lakh, which was promptly handed over to the state government.

In Ballari (city) constituency, the Congress has fielded its sitting MLA Anil Lad—who was also arrested by the CBI in the mining scandal—against Reddy-brother Somashekara Reddy. Somashekara Reddy and BJP’s candidate from Kampli TH Suresh Babu were booked in a case where a Rs 100 crore bribe was offered to judges to grant bail to Janardhana Reddy who was then in jail. At least three judges were arrested in this case, while one of them died of a cardiac arrest later.

Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s JD(S) also does not lag behind. In Bellary (city) it has fielded mining czar Hothur Mohammed Iqbal who until recently was a staunch Congress supporter.

The mining controversy has now come a full circle. While the illegal mining issue per se is dead, the mining barons are alive and kicking.

subscription-appeal-image

Power NL-TNM Election Fund

General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans together to focus on the issues that really matter to the voter. From political funding to battleground states, media coverage to 10 years of Modi, choose a project you would like to support and power our journalism.

Ground reportage is central to public interest journalism. Only readers like you can make it possible. Will you?

Support now

You may also like