Karunakar Reddy's decision to stick with the BJP despite odds has earned him a party ticket. But the BJP has been cautious in not fielding him from Bellary. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The Central Bureau of Investigation has directed Karunakar Reddy, one of the mining tycoons-turned-politicians Reddy brothers of Bellary, to appear before it on September 16 in connection with the illegal mining case.
The CBI has requested the Andhra Pradesh government to take action against senior TTD officers for alleged deliberate omissions and failures in tender conditions, leading to the supply of adulterated ghee used in Tirupati laddu production.
TDP spokesperson Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy in a press conference claimed that the adulteration has been confirmed by a Gujarat-based livestock laboratory, on the ghee samples provided by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, which manages the famous Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's claim that animal fat was used in Tirupati laddus during the previous government has triggered a massive political row, with the YSRCP accusing Naidu of indulging in "heinous allegations" for political gains and the Telugu Desam Party circulating a lab report to back its claim.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership's decision asking Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to step down has also put a question mark on the continuance of the Bellary brothers in the Cabinet as they have too have been indicted in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.
'Let anyone in Karnataka come forward and show that we have the licences to even a single square foot of land in the state,' challenges C V Nagesh, the Reddy brothers's lawyer.
Ahead of YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's planned visit to Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple at Tirumala Hills, the district police on Friday issued notice to several leaders and cadre of the party not to defy Section 30 of the Police Act which is in force.
A last-ditch attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party high command to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Karnataka government appears to have failed, with the rebel state ministers -- Tourism Minister Janardhan Reddy, Revenue Minister Karunakar Reddy, Chairman of Karnataka Milk Federation Somashekhar Reddy and Health Minister B Sriramulu -- sticking to their demand for the removal of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
The reward came exactly a month later. Liquor baron and expelled Telugu Desam Party MP from Chittoor D K Adikesavalu Naidu was appointed chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devesthanams, the world's richest Hindu shrine, for having shown his loyalty to the United Progressive Alliance government during the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on July 22.
A day after six persons died in the Tirupati stampede, the Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday announced a judicial inquiry into the incident that seems to have been the result of a policeman's innocuous act of opening the gate with the intention of aiding a sick woman.
The point of contention is that the three ministers are holding office of profit being the ministers in the state cabinet.
It is now certain that Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa will continue as chief minister of Karnataka. The party high command headed by Rajnath Singh and L K Advani have made it clear that Yeddyurappa will continue as the chief minister of Karnataka.
Reaching out to Dalits and backward classes, the administration of the Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirupati has launched several initiatives for the community including training them in performing temple rituals.
Karunakar Reddy, one of the members of the anti-Yeddyurappa faction, told media-persons on Friday that he, along with others, has been invited to New Delhi for talks. He said the central leadership had asked them to be in Delhi on Saturday to resolve the issue
According to the officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, one of their sanitary workers was badly injured due to the storm and calamitic conditions in the state.
In a major blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Sriramulu, a close aide of mining baron Reddy brothers, has decided to contest the Bellary rural by-polls as an independent candidate. Sriramulu said, "The manner in which I have been treated by the party has been insulting. The treatment has been crude and I do not think any of us from Bellary deserved that. I can never compromise with my self-respect and pride at any cost."
Sriramulu has proved that a politician is true to his own self, his own needs, his own mentors of the moment, and that the public does not matter after the vote is cast. The voter is to be remembered only at the next round of elections, whenever it is, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
Following the Cabinet reshuffle in Karnataka, a major revolt has broken in the Bharatiya Janata Party with the powerful Reddy brothers terming Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa a "betrayer''.
Though there was no danger of the village being submerged as it was on elevated land, the district administration is finding it difficult to send rescuers.\n\n
In heart-wrenching scenes reminiscent of the aftermath of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, coffins of soldiers arrived in several states for the last rites with full military honours.
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