Karnataka election results 2018: Reddy brothers back in business

The brothers including former BJP minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and their aides were among the key accused in the alleged illegal mining racket between 2008 and 2013 when B S Yeddyurappa briefly served as chief minister till 2011. An estimated Rs 16,000 crore worth of iron ore was alleged to have been exported out of India with help from those in the government.

Janardhana Reddy, however, could not campaign for his brother Somashekara as he was barred from entering Bellary. It was one of the conditions laid by the Supreme Court while granting him bail in 2015. He has spent more than three years in jail after being arrested by the CBI in 2011 in the illegal mining case. A plea to relax his bail condition was dismissed by the apex court. Despite the handicap, Janardhana campaigned in others parts of Karnataka for the BJP.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also campaigned in the Bellary region earlier this month, where he shared the stage with Somashekhara. It was here in Bellary that PM Modi accused the Congress of projecting it as a region inhabited by robbers and thieves. He also termed the government in Karnataka as “Sidda rupaiah” government. Bellary district constitutes nine assembly seats.