In another headache for Karnataka BJP, friends Janardhan Reddy and B Sriramulu turn foes; threaten to release documents against each other

The BJP MLA said Sriramulu had arrived three days late to campaign at Sandur. “Yet, I worked with him and campaigned for the polls… I have not bad-mouthed Ramulu (Sriramulu). His allegations have hurt me,” Reddy said, claiming that he had sheltered the former minister since his relative was murdered in 1991.

Responding to media queries, Reddy said that Agarwal’s view on the Sandur defeat could have been based on intelligence reports. Another reason for Sriramulu’s attack on him, he said, could be that he “was unsettled by the growth of Bangaru Hanumanthu”. Hanumanthu, like Sriramulu, hails from an ST community and recently lost the Sandur by-poll.

“If he wants to leave the party, he is free to do so. But making allegations against me is not right,” Reddy said, adding that if agencies investigate, several cases related to Sriramulu will come out. “I will talk about it when the time comes,” he said.

Sriramulu hit back at Reddy saying that he had grown in politics due to “his own credibility” and “not by virtue of Reddy”. Accusing Reddy of trying to depict him as a criminal in media platforms, he said that he had evidence of all acts committed by Reddy. “I will place it before the people when the time comes,” he added.

According to the former minister, Reddy was angry with him because he was not among those who welcomed him when the Supreme Court allowed Reddy to stay in Ballari in 2024. He was barred from entering the city following his arrest in an illegal mining scam in 2011.

“Since I did not attend, he issued a media statement that I was down with a serious disease,” he said, claiming that this was the reason for Reddy’s anger against him.