BJP releases third list for Karnataka, another Reddy brother fielded

BENGALURU: Karunakar Reddy, the eldest brother of tainted mining baron G Janardhan Reddy, has got the BJP ticket after the second brother Somashekar Reddy was named the candidate in Ballari in the first list.

The latest ticket from the BJP seems to have rehabilitated the entire Reddy clan of the former BJP minister Janardhan Reddy who were indicted in a mining scam. Besides his two brothers, the BJP has also given tickets to Reddy’s “adopted brother” B Sriramulu, his uncle Sanna Fakirappa and nephew T H Suresh Babu, all reinstated in the BJP. This, despite party president Amit Shah stating “We have nothing to do with Janardhan Reddy.”

Janardhan is said to be camping in Chitradurga and working out strategies to bring the central Karnataka region under the BJP sway. Reddy has been barred from entering Ballari district by the Supreme Court. The Rs 16,500 crores illegal mining scam during the B S Yeddyurappa government of 2008 was centred around Ballari.


Sriramulu is contesting from Molkalmuru in central Karnataka, while Karunakar gets his old constituency of Harapanahalli in the same region.

Gopal Karjol, the son of Mudhol BJP legislator and former minister Govind Karjol, has been given the party ticket for Nagthan in the same district, Bagalkote, Ashwini, the daughter of former MLA Sampangi gets KGF and Arun Somanna, son of former minister V Somanna gets Arsikere.

The party, however, has allotted Ranebennur, which candidate B S Yeddyurappa’s elder son B Y Raghavendra was tipped to get, to another candidate.