Karnataka mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy returns to BJP

He floated the KRPP in December 2022 and even won as an MLA from the Gangavati constituency in the 2023 assembly elections in the state.

Mining baron and controversial Kalyana Karnataka figure Gali Janardhan Reddy formally merged his party, Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha (KRPP), into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday. He floated the KRPP in December 2022 and even won as an MLA from the Gangavati constituency in the 2023 assembly elections in the state.

Karnataka mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy merges his party and returns to BJP (Arijit Sen/HT File Photo)

Speaking to the reporters, Reddy said, “I feel happy and elated to be back to the BJP which is in my blood. I want to see Narendra Modi as Prime Minister once again and I will work hard for the party in my region, I have always been a BJP person as BJP is in my blood.”

However, he did not clarify the role that he is going to play in the party. “Whatever party assigns me to do, I will take it up,” Reddy added.

Gali Janardhan Reddy, the accused in a multi-crore mining scam, recently met Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and indicated his return to the saffron party. He was also in the news during the recent Rajyasabha polls for extending support to the Congress candidate. He was a prominent BJP leader during BS Yediyurappa’s tenure as CM between 2008-11. Reddy also played a crucial role in Sushma Swaraj’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in 1999, where she contested against Sonia Gandhi in Bellary.

Ever since Gali Janardhan Reddy was imprisoned on charges of illegal mining, speculation had been doing rounds on his differences with BJP leaders. He is accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case and has been out on bail since 2015. While granting bail, the court also directed him to surrender his passport and not leave the country without permission.

From then, the saffron party distanced itself from Reddy due to his bad reputation and he was reportedly denied to campaign for the party in elections later. That led him to float a new party and even fielded candidates from Kalyana Karnataka region in the 2023 assembly polls.