Four from Kalyana Karnataka join council of Ministers

Four MLAs from Kalyana Karnataka, including B. Sriramulu who represents Molakalmur constituency in Chitradurga district, joined the newly formed Basavaraj Bommai Cabinet on Wednesday. B.S. Anand Singh

Four MLAs from Kalyana Karnataka, including B. Sriramulu who represents Molakalmur constituency in Chitradurga district, joined the newly formed Basavaraj Bommai Cabinet on Wednesday. B.S. Anand Singh from Vijayanagar constituency in Vijayanagar district, Halappa Achar from Yelburga constituency in Koppal district and Prabhu Chauhan from Aurad constituency in Bidar are the other three who was administered oath by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot at the Raj Bhavan. Mr. Anand Singh, a four-time MLA, was among the 17 members who resigned from their Assembly memberships to pull down the Janata Dal(S)-Congress coalition government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy subsequently paving the way for the installation of the BJP government headed by B.S. Yediyurappa. He won the 2008 and 2013 Assembly elections on BJP ticket and the 2018 election on Congress ticket. He served as the Minister for Tourism in the Jagadish Shettar government and as Minister for Forest, Environment and Ecology and Infrastructure Development, Haj and Waqf Department in the B.S. Yediyurappa government. Mr. Singh played an important role in the formation of the Vijayanagar district with Hosapete as its headquarters by carving out six taluks from Ballari district. The 55-year old politician is also a businessman involved in the mining and transport businesses. However, he is also an accused in 17 cases that are in different stages of investigation by SIT and CBI. Mr. Sriramulu, a 50-year old Ballari-based prominent Valmiki leader, is a four-time MLA. He first entered the Assembly in 2004 by winning the Ballari City constituency. He was made Minister for Tourism in the Janata Dal(S)-BJP coalition government. He won the 2008 elections and was inducted into the B.S. Yediyurappa Cabinet as Minister for Health and Family Welfare. However, he had to resign after he was indicted in a Lokayukta report on illegal mining in 2011. He fought the 2011 byelection as an Independent candidate in Ballari and won it. In 2012, he launched his own party, BSR Congress, and contested the 2013 Assembly elections. Four candidates from his party, including himself, won the elections.