Don’t allow Reddy brothers to win Sandur byelection, says Siddaramaiah in his appeal to voters

Siddaramaiah recalls Reddy brothers' “reign of terror” in Ballari, urges voters to prevent their return in Sandur byelection.

Recalling those days when BJP leader Gali Janardhan Reddy and his brothers were at the peak of their power in Ballari, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that their power was such that officials in Ballari defied the then Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.

“At a time, a difference of opinion cropped up between Mr. Yediyurappa and Mr. Janardhan Reddy. The Ballari Deputy Commissioner, the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat and the Superintendent of Police did not come to Jindal Airport to receive Mr. Yediyurappa. You can understand how officers were terrified by the Reddy brothers then,” Mr. Siddaramaiah claimed, at a public meeting in Bannihatti village of Sandur Assembly Constituency on Friday.

The event was a part of Mr. Siddaramaiah’s two-day campaigning for his party candidate E. Annapurna in the byelections in the constituency.

“I had then come to Ballari for byelection campaign. I went to a house seeking a cup of water and I was told not to reveal the fact that I drank a cup of water in that house. This was the type of terror that the Reddy brothers had unleashed in Ballari. Another time, C.M. Ibrahim and myself had come to Ballari for the Lok Sabha election campaign. We were not allowed to address public meetings in any major centre. Finally, we had to gather people near a temple managed by the Kuruba community and address the people,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said and urged voters not to allow the Reddy brothers to “resume their atrocities and terror” by winning the Sandur byelection.

“You must understand why we undertook a padayatra from Bengaluru to Ballari. Mr. Janardhan Reddy, his brothers and his friend B. Sriramulu were looting Ballari by carrying out illegal mining and hafta collection. There was no rule of law in Ballari then. Poverty and unemployment were ruling the roost. Mr. Janardhan Reddy and his gang were busy looting Ballari by carrying out illegal mining. My party and I undertook the padayatra to save Ballari from the clutches of the Reddy brothers,” he claimed.

In yet another public meeting at Yelubenchi village in the constituency, Mr. Siddaramaiah again appealed to the people not to vote for the Reddy brothers who, he said, tarnished Ballari’s name at the national level with their illegal mining and atrocities on people.

“The BJP leaders know that their party cannot grow in Karnataka as long as I am politically active. That is why they are trying to politically finish me off using the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department. They are not able to digest the fact that I am successfully implementing guarantee programmes for the poor. I have been booked in a false case but I don’t care about such threats,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.