Karnataka: Mining scam accused Janardhan Reddy unconditionally returns to BJP

Karnataka BJP’s prodigal member Gali Janardhan Reddy, who was the prime accused in mining scams during the BJP’s 2008 regime in the state, unconditionally returned to the party’s fold on Monday, merging his outfit Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP) with the saffron party.

Reddy’s influence is expected to boost the party’s presence in North Karnataka and prevent votes being split in favour of the Congress in Ballari, Bagalkot, and Koppal districts. The BJP, which lost the region to the Congress in the 2023 assembly polls in May, is leaving no stone unturned to secure it for the Lok Sabha, including fielding Lingayat leader and former CM Jagadish Shettar as the MP candidate from Belagavi.

Reddy, who currently holds the Gangavati assembly seat, had officially quit the BJP to start his own party in 2022. After meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, he said was coming back to “work as an ordinary party worker,” rather than just provide external support.


“I have come to the BJP solely to work towards realising the dream of a large number of people that Narendra Modi should become prime minister again…I have come to the BJP solely to work towards realising the dream of a large number of people that Narendra Modi should become prime minister again,” the mining baron said.

BJP veteran BS Yediyurappa welcomed the move, saying Reddy’s support was a major boost for the party. “This will strengthen our party. Will win all 28 seats. His wife and friends have joined BJP as well…I welcome them wholeheartedly,” he said. Former CM Basavaraj Bommai welcomed the mining baron back into the party as well, saying Reddy had his own influence in the North Karnataka region and his re-entry would benefit the party in a great manner in that region.

Reddy, who was arrested in a mining scam in 2011, was a minister in the Yediyurappa-led BJP government in 2008. He campaigned for former minister B Sriramulu during the 2018 assembly polls, although the BJP had then publicly distanced itself from Reddy. Frustrated at the party’s dismissal, Reddy had launched the KRPP a year before the 2023 assembly polls and had won the elections from Gangavati in Koppal district.