Former minister, Gali Janardhan Reddy completes one year in prison on Wednesday as he awaits trial in the illegal mining case, cutting a sorry figure for a politician who once treated the district of Bellary as his personal fiefdom. The youngest of three sons of a police head constable from Andhra Pradesh, his rise to political power was as quick as his fall. Things couldnt have been better for the Reddy brothers when in 2008, the first ever BJP government in the state rewarded them and their close associae, B Sreeramulu with ministerial posts, for their “contribution” to bringing the party to power in Karnataka.
The mining baron made a splash at the Global Investors Meet-2010, announcing a Rs 34,000 crore investment in the state's steel industry. But the mining scam unearthed by former Lokayukta Santosh Hegde in August 2011 changed everything and he found himself accused of plundering the reserved forests of both Karnataka and AP of iron ore. Worse followed, as his brother, Bellary City MLA, Gali Somashekhar Reddy and Mr Sreeramulu’s 29-year-old nephew, MLA T.H. Suresh Babu to were put behind bars for their alleged role in the ‘cash for bail’ scam that was intended to get him out on bail.
Mr Sreeramulu, who launched own party BSR Congress Party is also facing the heat over the cash-for-bail deal. On his mentor completing one year in jail, he said, “It’s a painful moment. We are childhood friends and I will always pray for his well-being. We are passing through a testing time. Difficulties are not new to us, but we will overcome them and prove our innocence”.