Mandya: Stepping up his offensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused it of having "mortgaged" people's future to "mafia" and "sold" the state to mining barons Reddy brothers. Attacking the BJP in the third lap of his campaign for the May 5 Assembly elections, Gandhi charged it with having "built" the Reddy brothers -- G Janardhana and G Karunakara -- to come to power in the state.
"The BJP people talk about corruption. Yesterday in Parliament, they spoke about corruption. But they will not talk about Karnataka. They will not mention the corruption in Karnataka. They will not say a Chief Minister went to jail. They will not say Reddy brothers who they sold the entire state to....they talk about corruption," Gandhi said.
The BJP leaders "who have built" the Reddy brothers, "who have taken their money" and "who are responsible for corruption" in Karnataka go to the rest of the country and talk about corruption, he said. Gandhi said there was a time when Karnataka used to shine and be talked about as a progressive and leading state but "the sad part is that in the last nine years, (when Congress was out of power), Karnataka's shine has disappeared."
For the first time in history, a Chief Minister had gone to jail, said Gandhi, apparently referring to BS Yeddyurappa, who is facing corruption charges and had to quit as Chief Minister on graft charge after his
04:38 PM, May 01, 2013
Bellary (Karna): The fall of the once powerful and mighty Reddy brothers is evident in the infamously called 'Republic of Bellary' but the influence of mining lords has not diminished going by their presence in the fray for the May five Assembly polls. Flashback 2008. The BJP made a clean sweep of Bellary district, winning seven of the nine seats in a region where the Congress had traditionally maintained an...
10:21 AM, Apr 29, 2013
Bangalore: The Supreme Court will on Thursday decide on the fate of mines barred from mining iron ore in Karnataka's Bellary district. A three-member bench will deliver the judgement on a PIL filed three years ago seeking a ban on illegal mining and also a high level inquiry into the role of politicians. A Central Empowered Committee had also recommended a ban on mining. The PIL's petitioner had named top...
09:11 AM, Apr 18, 2013
Bellary: A chargesheet has been filed against BJP MLA G Somasekhara Reddy, brother of arrested mining baron G Janardhana Reddy, and 13 others in connection with the alleged threat to the life of a top forest official investigating illegal mining in the district. The 125 page chargesheet has named Somasekhara Reddy as the main accused. Conservator of Forests UV Singh had visited Ramghad reserve forest area in Sandur taluk in...
01:33 PM, Oct 04, 2012
Bangalore: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out raids at at least 15 places across Karnataka in connection with illegal iron ore export. At least a dozen export companies have been accused of illegal export of seized iron ores from Belekeri port. The Reddy brothers of Bellary and Karnataka tourism minister Anand Singh are allegedly involved in the case. ...
02:25 PM, Sep 15, 2012
Hyderabad: A local court on Friday granted bail to two accused in the cash-for-bail case involving former Karnataka Minister and mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy. Suspended CBI court judge Talluri Pattabhirama Rao's son T Ravi Chandra and lawyer T Aditya, facing charges of conspiring with others to secure bail for Reddy in Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case, were given bail by Anti-Corruption court in Hyderabad. The court asked them to...
05:58 PM, Sep 07, 2012
Hyderabad: Suspended judge K Lakshminarasimha Rao and others, who had mediated with the associates of former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy to secure his bail, is learnt to have initially demanded Rs 500 crore from the mining baron. But the deal did not shape up as the then CBI special court judge B Nagamaruthi Sarma refused to grant bail. This was revealed by a chartered accountant-cum-realtor P Krishna Prasad in...
12:08 PM, Aug 29, 2012
New Delhi: Karnataka MLA Somashekhara Reddy, brother of mining scam accused Gali Janardhan Reddy, has been arrested in the cash-for-bail scam on Monday. Somashekhara Reddy is the second Karnataka MLA to be arrested in the cash-for-bail scam after Suresh Babu, who was arrested last week. Somashekhar Reddy, who is accused of "playing a key role in bribing" suspended judge T Pattabhirama Rao in granting bail to mining baron Janardhan Reddy,...
05:23 PM, Aug 06, 2012
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh ACB, probing the cash-for-bail scam involving jailed former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, on Tuesday named his close associate and yet another MLA of that state B Sreeramulu, of playing a role towards securing Reddy's bail. In its remand report submitted in a court in Hyderabad after arresting BJP's Kampli MLA TH Suresh Babu in the case, the ACB has claimed that further investigations had revealed that...
05:01 AM, Aug 01, 2012
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau, probing the cash-for-bail scam involving jailed former Karnataka minister G Janardhan Reddy, on Tuesday named his close associate and yet another MLA of that state B Sreeramulu, for allegedly playing a role towards securing Reddy's bail. In its remand report submitted in a court in Hyderabad after arresting BJP's Kampli MLA TH Suresh Babu in the case, the ACB has claimed further investigations had shown...
11:21 PM, Jul 31, 2012
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has made another arrest in the cash-for-bail scandal involving former Karnataka Minister Gali Janaradhan Reddy. Guduru Dasaratharami Reddy, a businessman who is one of the accused in the case pertaining to bribing of CBI judge Pattabhirama Rao to get bail for Janardhan Reddy in Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) scam, was arrested on Saturday night. Dasaratharami, a relative of mining baron Janaradhan Reddy, was produced...
06:51 PM, Jul 22, 2012
New Delhi: A Supreme Court appointed committee on illegal mining in Karnataka has submitted its final report. The committee has come down heavily on mining companies and recommended that their licenses be cancelled. Most of the violators are C-category mines. The decision could have some political repercussions too, as many of the mines have links to politicians in Karnataka. Some of the mines are owned by the associates of the...
06:27 PM, Feb 06, 2012
Nothing is ever certain in an ever changing world and most of all political power. If there was any doubt about that then 2011 dispelled it completely. In more ways and more cases than one it was truly the year of the fall of some of South India's most powerful regional chieftains. Starting with Karuna, to Yeddy and the Reddys in Karnataka to Jagan Mohan in Andhra Pradesh, they all...
04:50 PM, Dec 15, 2011
Hyderabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday informed a local court that it was ready for trial in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) illegal mining case involving former Karnataka tourism minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and others. The central agency that filed a chargesheet in the case against Reddy, who owns Obulapuram Mining Company and four others on December 3, informed the Special Court for CBI cases that it...
09:01 PM, Dec 13, 2011
Bangalore: The National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR), an NGO, on Friday claimed to have unearthed a land scam involving the Reddy brothers and former minister B Sreeramulu illegally acquiring about 251 acres of agricultural land in and around Bellary town. "Prima facie, we have found serious illegalities and irregularities committed by Reddy brothers and Sreeramulu in acquiring agricultural lands in violation of various land norms including Land...
09:44 PM, Dec 09, 2011
Bangalore: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in deep trouble in Karnataka after its rebel leader Sriramulu's landslide victory in the Bellary bypoll. Sriramulu, a supporter of Reddy brothers, has now claimed the support of 14 MLAs in the state, and has indicated that he may float his own party. "I have the numbers to form a new party. I will give you more details after a short while," he...
01:25 PM, Dec 08, 2011
New Delhi: Independent candidate B Sriramulu on Sunday won Bellary (Rural) Assembly bypoll in Karnataka by more than 47,000 votes. It's a huge blow for the ruling BJP in Karnataka as the rebel candidate and Janardhana Reddy aide B Sriramulu won the crucial bypoll by a huge margin. Sreeramulu, a close associate of jailed mining baron and former minister G Janardhana Reddy, secured 74,527 votes and retained the seat which...
11:37 AM, Dec 04, 2011
Bangalore: Bellary has turned into a fortress ahead of Tuesday's bypoll and it's a litmus test for the BJP as many of the party MLAs have been supporting independent candidate Sriramulu who's being backed by the Reddy brothers. Sriramulu, a close aide of the Reddy brothers and a former BJP minister resigned three months ago. It's also the first poll after the illegal mining expose in Karnataka, and a lot...
07:29 AM, Nov 30, 2011
Bellary (Karnataka): Mining barons Reddy brothers seem to be preparing for a complete break from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka with their associate B Sriramulu on Monday announcing plans for a new outfit. The brothers, pampered by the party till recently, are already taking on the BJP in their stronghold Bellary in the November 30 bypoll to the state assembly from Bellary Rural constituency. The iron ore...
06:40 PM, Nov 28, 2011
BELLARY: With just two days to voting, the electioneering in the Bellary Rural constituency has reached its peak. On Sunday, the penultimate day of public campaigning, all three parties " BJP, Congress and Independent candidate Sriramulu " appeared to be in a hurry to make most of the remaining time by reaching out to as many voters as possible. While Sriramulu carried on with his usual style of functioning "...
11:24 AM, Nov 28, 2011
