The flamboyant Janardhan Reddy, who never thought twice about flying by private chopper from Bengaluru to Ballari during the lunch break when an Assembly session was going on, merged his Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha with the BJP.

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Reddy had launched his party a few months before the Assembly polls last year, but it  failed to make any impact on the election as none of the candidates won except Reddy himself,  from Gangavathi seat in Koppal district.

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Reddy, realising he had failed to make any impact in state politics, had been attempting to get close to the BJP but was kept at a distance by the saffron leaders as there were cases pending against him  of illegal mining and altering the state border.  Reddy voting for the Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls did not go down well either.

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But strangely, just as the Congress was about to induct him into the party,  Gali decided to go back to the BJP.

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With a pack of followers, Reddy arrived at the state BJP office located in Malleswaram, and touched the feet of his political mentor and former CM, B.S.Yediyurappa, before formally seeking the party primary membership.

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He recalled his days in BJP and said the last time he visited the office was more than ten years ago. "I was invited to BJP and made minister by Yediyurappa long ago. But many ups and downs happened in my life. I was forced to resign and stayed away from politics. I started a new political party also. BJP is like my mother and I have come back to her lap. It's a homecoming for me. I had the privilege of working under Yediyurappa and now a chance to work with my mentor' s son, B.Y.Vijayendra,” he said.

Why now?

One of the questions being asked in political circles is why he’s chosen to join the BJP at this point? Is he seeking the protection of the BJP to come out of the pending cases? Is he seeking immunity against any further course of action?  His hurry to join the saffron party has surprised everyone.

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Reddy however claims that he has joined the party without any pre-conditions. The Congress party, was quick to slam the BJP for being part of the illegal mining racket in Ballari district which allowed him to dictate terms to Yediyurappa.

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Interestingly, it has emerged that a section of the BJP were unhappy with the induction of Reddy as it went against the move to cleanse the  party as sought by some veteran leaders. But the BJP top echelons may have decided to prioritise the recapture of Ballari district over cleaning up its act.

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Is Sriramulu happy?

The former minister B.Sriramulu who is contesting from Ballari as the BJP candidate, and Reddy are  at loggerheads. An unsmiling Sriramulu was seated in the dais, along with State BJP President B.Y.Vijayendra , Yediyurappa and others.

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The BJP high command’s strategy to see that they secure Ballari was clearly unfolding in bringing together the former power quintet in Ballari - Gali Janardhan Reddy, Gali Somashekar Reddy,  Karunakaran Reddy, Anand Singh and B.Sriramulu. Will they work together as they did before, remains the big question.

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