Karnataka elections 2018: B Sriramulu, BJP, Molkalmuru and Badami

B Sriramulu, considered close to the Reddy brothers, is contesting the upcoming Karnataka polls from Molkalmuru and Badami.

B Sriramulu is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s MP from Bellary district. Sriramulu emerged as a state-wide leader in 2008, with a strong support base of the Valmiki Nayaka community he belongs to.

BSriramulu, the BJP candidate from Molakalmuru. (Arijit Sen/HT Photo)

Sriramulu, 46, is considered to be close to the controversial Reddy brothers, who face allegation of illegal mining and corruption. Sriramulu, along with tainted mining baron G Janardhan Reddy, played an important role in establishing the first BJP government in South India after party leader BS Yeddyurappa won the 2008 Karnataka elections. In 2011, when the mining scandal broke out, Sriramulu rebelled against the BJP and subsequently won as an Independent candidate in Bellary (Rural) in the by-election. He floated his own party, the BSR Congress, before merging it with the BJP in 2014.

In the these elections, the BJP has fielded Sriramulu from Molakalmuru, a Congress bastion, and from Badami, where he is pitted against current chief minister Siddaramaiah.