Gowda Jr’s fate hangs in balance as Reddy reveals evidence today

Reddy claims to have solid evidence to prove his charges against the chief minister, his family and Cabinet colleagues. Reddy is expected to produce a camera phone recording of inebriated JDS Forest Minister C Chenigappa making demands from mine owners on behalf of his leaders.

Among other evidences is the recording of a suitcase being transported in a mine owner’s car to the residence of a senior state leader. The BJP leader is also reported to have gathered documents to reveal the extent of involvement of Kumaraswamy’s family in the iron ore mining business there.

Reddy first made the allegations against the JDS leader on July 6 after the government transferred the Bellary SP Pankaj Kumar Thakur. The BJP MLC said the SP had successfully reined in the law and order situation, especially Naxal activities, in the iron ore-rich region. Ahead of the scheduled revelations, Janardhan Reddy, on Tuesday, asked his lawyers to also file a petition in the high court for a CBI inquiry into this. All evidences available will be handed over to the high court for safe custody, his lawyer said.

Meanwhile, Reddy’s proposed revelation has sent the JDS and the BJP — the ruling coalition partners — into a tizzy. The JDS national president and Kumaraswamy’s father HD Devegowda has been holding talks for an possible change of leadership in case Reddy’s revelations turn out to be very damaging for Kumaraswamy.

Sources said the former prime minister is considering senior JDS leader Rajashekhar Murthy, a former BJP man, as a strategic replacement. His second son H D Revanna is also in the reckoning for the chief minister’s post.

The JDS is on shaky ground also because at least 17 of the party’s 51 core MLAs are in the dissident camp, led by former Kumaraswamy men, who are being wooed by the Congress. Coalition partner BJP is divided over Reddy. Several senior leaders like Deputy CM B S Yediyurappa are of the view that the BJP must continue in the coalition in order to rule in southern India for the first time. A section of the BJP leaders are, however, saying the corruption charges could taint their party and are advocating withdrawal from the coalition in case Reddy’s evidence proves to be too explosive.

Since the post 2003 iron ore mining business boom in Bellary, the district has become a bone of political contention with several politicians having high stakes in it. Janardhan Reddy, his brothers — Bellary MP G Karunakar Reddy, Bellary mayor Somashekhar Reddy, and trusted friend Bellary MLA B Sriramulu have turned the district from a Congress bastion into a BJP stronghold. Since coming to power, the JDS has also been trying to muscle in on the spoils.