The Reddy Flag Over Bangalore

The Bellary brothers have emerged as kingmakers. But their mercurial ascent is being questioned
SANJANA,Banglore

WHEN BS YEDDYURAPPA was sworn in as Karnataka’s 19th chief minister on May 30, he took the oath in the name of farmers and God. A third presence, that he should have publicly acknowledged, but didn’t, were the Reddy brothers.

Karunakara, Somashekhar and Janardhan Reddy along with B. Sriramulu (a close associate and virtually a part of the family) played a crucial role in first helping the BJP garner 110 seats, and later by playing a key role in securing the support of the six independents to help Yeddyurappa realise his dream of heading the first BJP government in Karnataka. It is reported that the Reddy brothers, who made their millions mining iron ore, paid the independent candidates Rs 25 crore each in return for their support to the BJP government. Not that Yeddyurappa is unaware of the Reddy brothers’ financial contribution to the party coffers or their presence in Bellary and its neighbouring districts. Three of the four kingmakers have been granted ministerial berths — Harapanahalli MLA Gali Karunakara Reddy, Bellary MLA B. Sriramulu and MLC Gali Janardhan Reddy.

Even weeks before the election began, Janardhan Reddy had laughed away the idea of any preparations to win the elections. Reddy, on being asked by TEHELKA about campaign readiness, had said, “What preparations? Where is the need for us to prepare? We are sure that we will add nearly 30 seats to the BJP tally.” If the number had seemed like a casual boast at that time, post-results, Reddy’s figure is not way off the mark. Besides Bellary district, the Reddy brothers’ concentrated on the neighbouring districts of Davangere, Gadag and Haveri.

Of 27 seats in these four districts, the BJP won 23 seats. Five of these seats were won by the Reddy family itself, including the extended family members, B. Nagendra (Kudligi MLA) and TH Suresh Babu (Kampli MLA). The clout that the Reddy brothers have enjoyed over the years extended to the 2008 Assembly elections as well. A political clout that is held in place by the Reddy brothers muscle power as well, say observers in the district.

During the campaign, Sriramulu, who finally won the Bellary seat, was twice arrested by the police before being released on bail. The first incident that he was implicated in was the burning of Congress candidate Anil Lad’s cars on April 18. A month later, on May 15, a day before Bellary went to the polls, Sriramulu was charged with assaulting a Congress worker on the outskirts of the city. Nani, the Congress worker, was found unconscious following the assault and had to be hospitalised.

In both instances, the Reddy brothers stood firm in their assertion that the Congress was in fact “creating” these incidents to bring about a sympathy wave.

Whatever the final outcome in these two cases, the fact is that Sriramulu in his nomi - nation affidavit has already admitted to having criminal charges pending against him, including an attempt to murder charge. Ultimately, none of this mattered as Sriramulu waits to be assigned a portfolio in the Yeddyurappa cabinet.

Who are the Reddy brothers and how did they come to dominate Karnataka’s political scene? Sons of a police constable, stories abound of the time when the Reddy brothers criss-crossed dusty Bellary roads on a twowheeler as they attempted to establish (and later save) a non-banking financial institution,Ennoble Savings and Investment India Pvt. Ltd. The company wound up in 1998, with complaints of fraud and cheating to the tune of Rs 200 crore. Meanwhile, Sriramulu had surfaced on the local political scene as a disciple of the then Congressman Diwakar Babu. The 1999 Lok Sabha elections saw the real emergence of the Reddy brothers. As Congress chief Sonia Gandhi battled it out against the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj for the Bellary seat, the brothers emerged as Sushma Swaraj’s trusted local aides. Though Swaraj and Sriramulu (who contested the 1999 Assembly elections) lost, for the Reddy brothers, both the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections that year proved to be a crucial stepping stone. Under Swaraj’s aegis, Sriramulu, who is often called her adopted son, and the Reddy brothers worked tirelessly to establish BJP’s hold in what was once a Congress bastion.

In the Bellary City Municipal Council elections in 2001, the Reddy brothers’ efforts yielded results as the BJP swept the Congress aside. The winning streak continued in the 2004 Assembly elections as the BJP won three seats. Later, in the Lok Sabha elections, G. Karunakara Reddy won the Bellary Lok Sabha seat, wresting it from the Congress who had held the seat since 1952.

The subsequent zilla panchayat, taluk and town level elections proved to be a cakewalk for the Reddy brothers and the BJP. Of the four, Janardhan Reddy is seen largely as the ‘brain’ behind the rapid expansion of the party in the district.

Their rise in political circles mirrored their rise as mining magnets, cashing in on the international iron-ore export boom that hit the region. As managing directors of the Obalapuram Mining Company, the Reddy brothers oversee mining operations in Anantapur (in Andhra Pradesh), a district bordering Bellary. Sriramulu is managing director of the same company. When China started to import iron ore for its rapidly growing infrastructure needs, the Reddy brothers catapulted to the big league. Their assets are known to run into thousands of crores of rupees; in an Income Tax department raid in October 2007, the Reddy brothers reportedly paid a few crore rupees as dues. A much talked about asset is the fleet of helicopters that the brothers use frequently, often lending them to the BJP as well.

FOR MANY, the rise of the Reddy brothers signifies a tale beyond the pauper to a king story. Says Gauri Lankesh, editor of Lankesh, a leading independent weekly in Karnataka, “It is ridiculous to reduce it to that or to bemoan the entry of unscrupulous elements into politics. Let’s not forget that the political influence that the Reddy brothers wield today is a consequence of the opening of the export licences in the mining sector. Nobody draws the link between the stench in politics thanks to mining and real estate magnates and the economic policies of liberalisation that the country is following. Bellary and the Reddy brothers are merely a microcosm of the meshing together of the political and economic elite.”

Indeed, in a region that still reflects characteristics of feudalism thanks to an unsurmountable gap between the mine owners and the mineworkers, the rise of the Reddy brothers is a significant tale to tell. Says Shivasundar, a senior political analyst, “The values that the neo-rich espouse is in direct conflict with the supposed welfare State that we are a part of. In the Indian Constitution, socialism is still a value to be upheld. How can we expect any state regulation when it comprises legislators and ministers like the Reddy brothers?”

BS Yeddyurappa and the BJP government are unlikely to have any answers. •

WRITER’S E-MAIL
sanjana@tehelka.com