[1]With the ruling and opposition parties preparing feverishly for the coming assembly elections, political circles are abuzz over reports that the Reddy mine baron backed BSR Congress’ party founder B.
Sreeramulu recently met senior Congress leader S.M. Krishna to offer a pre-poll arrangement.
No-one in the BSR Congress party has confirmed the party chief’s “not so secret” meeting with SMK, but sources close to Mr Sreeramulu say that he had reportedly discussed a pre-poll alliance and seat-sharing in the coming Assembly elections with the Congress stalwart.
Reports indicate that the jailed former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy has advised his trusted lieutenant, Bellary Independent legislator Mr Sreeramulu to approach Mr Krishna who is unofficially in charge of the Congress party’s preparations for the next Assembly elections.
The Valmiki strongman reportedly offered to contest only 15 assembly constituencies reserved for Scheduled Tribe where his community and party enjoy some clout. Sources said that Mr Sreeramulu, while not receiving any positive feedback from SMK with regard to a pre-poll alliance, was given the impression that a post-poll alliance if the Congress party fell short of the magic number to form the government would be more feasible.
Sources also indicated Janardhan Reddy and Sreeramulu decided to explore an alliance with the Congress in a bid to pre-empt the coming together of the Lingayat strongman and former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa’s Karnataka Janata Party, which has a strong hold over central and northern parts of the state, where the Congress is notoriously weak.
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