The arrest of controversial Ballari mine baron Gali Janardhan Reddy in Bengaluru on Sunday over his alleged involvement in a ponzi scheme is another nail in the BJP’s coffin in Karnataka. The party has tried hard, and failed, to rid itself of the corruption tag brought on by Mr Reddy and former Karnataka CM B.S. Yeddyurappa, who also did jail time.
Mr Reddy is widely believed to have bankrolled the BJP in its early years, particularly complete outsider Sushma Swaraj who won two consecutive terms from Ballari. He also helped finance Operation Kamala that boosted the BJP’s numbers and helped saffronists form their first government in South India in 2008.
Mr Reddy, who has already spent nearly four years in jail over illegal mining and iron ore sale charges, has been out on bail, but is barred from entering his hometown, the so-called “Republic of Ballari”. In a sign of his diminishing clout, for the first time in 14 years, the electorate in the recent Ballari bypoll unequivocally rejected BJP candidate J. Shanta, sister of B. Sreeramulu, Mr Reddy’s close aide and proxy CM candidate.
BJP president Amit Shah may have refused to share a stage with the flamboyant mine baron during the May campaign, saying repeatedly Mr Reddy had nothing to do with the BJP. But with this arrest, spurred, some say, by Congress leader Siddaramaiah with his own personal axe to grind — the mine baron’s money power allegedly reduced Siddaramaiah’s margin of victory in Badami to a wafer-thin 1,500 votes — Mr Reddy’s corruption is the BJP’s biggest Achilles heel. And the Congress’ trump card.
