Aruna Lakshmi, the wife of former Karnataka minister and tainted mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy, on Sunday unveiled the party flag of the new political party launched by her husband. Aruna unveiled the flag at an event held in Benakal village in Ballari district of Karnataka. "I have been alongside him (Janardhana Reddy) for 30 years and now it will be my duty to work with him with this new party," Aruna Lakshmi said during the event.
She addressed reporters in an event aimed at canvassing votes from the Kuruba community. "My husband often seeks the blessings of the elders of the Kuruba community. He has spoken about the new party already in Bengaluru and we are planning to hold an event in Gangavati soon on January 3," Aruna Lakshmi said.
Gali Janardhana Reddy launched his political party named 'Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha' in December 2022. Describing the move as a new political episode, Janardhana Reddy said he plans to serve the people of Kalyana Karnataka region comprising seven districts – Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Kalaburagi, Ballari and Vijayanagara. The announcement came ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections scheduled for 2023.
The Assembly elections in Karnataka are set to be held in the first half of the year, likely in April or May. Janardhana Reddy has announced that he will contest from Gangavati in Koppal district, marking his return to electoral politics in the state away from Ballari, his home district.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long groomed the Reddy brothers - Janardhana, his younger brother Somashekara (MLA Ballari City constituency) and elder brother Karunakara (MLA Harapanahalli constituency) - to wield political influence in Ballari and its neighboring areas in north Karnataka.
However, the three brothers suffered a setback after Janardhana Reddy was named as the prime accused in the Ballari mining scam by Lokayukta Santosh Hegde in 2011. The BJP soon distanced itself from Janardhana Reddy and by extension, the entire family. The brothers - Somashekara and Karunakara - were also removed from the Karnataka cabinet following the revelations made by Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde and they were not fielded as candidates in the 2013 Assembly elections.
In 2018, the return of the Reddys dominated conversation in Ballari in the lead up to the Assembly elections. The BJP announced that Somashekara Reddy and Karunakara Reddy would be party candidates again and also fielded three associates of the Reddy brothers - Sriramulu who contested from Molakalmuru and Badami, Sanna Fakirappa who contested from Ballari Rural and Lalesh Reddy who contested from BTM Layout.
However, there was uncertainty at the time over bringing back Janardhana Reddy into the party fold. One of the complications was that Janardhana Reddy was granted bail on condition that he does not visit Ballari in Karnataka, Anantapur and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh in 2015. The CBI which was probing the scam had been opposing his return to Ballari citing that he would intimidate witnesses.
Even though national BJP leader Amit Shah stated in a public meeting in Mysuru that the party had nothing to do with Janardhana Reddy, the mining baron actively campaigned for Sriramulu and shared the dais at a public event with BS Yeddyurappa, the party's chief ministerial candidate.