Karnataka: BJP divided over Reddy brothers?

Mangalore Today News Network

Bangalore, May 28:  Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa today clarified that the decision to give ministerial berths to Reddy brothers was his and that no one exerted any influence on him.

"No one influenced us to make the Reddys ministers. We took them in our own wisdom," the Karnataka Chief Minister said.

Yeddyurappa’s clarification comes in the wake of a controversy over senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj’s remarks about Reddy brothers.

In an interview to a magazine, the Leader of Opposition has said, "I have no hand in the political making of Bellary brothers...I had nothing to do with making them ministers or building up their stature as political leaders...When the Bellary brothers were made ministers, Jaitleyji (Arun Jaitley) was the prabhari (in charge) and Yeddyurappa was CM. I was opposed to their appointment as ministers but they (Jaitley, Yeddyurappa, Ananth Kumar) had some political compulsions."

Sushma Swaraj’s reported remarks are being seen by some as blaming Arun Jaitley for the inclusion of the ’tainted’ Reddy brothers. 

Earlier this year, a report of the Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC), set up by the Supreme Court, ruled that the Reddy brothers - Tourism Minister Janardhana Reddy and Minister for Revenue Karunakara Reddy - were running illegal mining activities in areas demarcated as Forest Areas since 2004. The committee also ruled that their mining licenses should be cancelled.

The thousands of crores generated every year by their Oballapuram mines have allowed the Reddy brothers to pack a heavy punch in the political ring in Karnataka.