Reddys pray for more: Offers crown to God of Seven Hills

June 12, 2009

Shivakumar G Malagi

The Reddy broth ers made a thanksgiving offering of a Rs 45 crore diamond-studded gold crown to the Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirupati on ThursdayWhile tourism minister Gali Janardhan Reddy was reluctant to discuss the value of the jewelled crown, his elder brother, Bellary city MLA Somashekhar Reddy, let the cat out of the bag by revealing that it was worth around Rs 45 croreHe also disclosed that the crown weighs 30 kg and took nine months for the diamond workers of Coimbatore to make. The crown will adorn Mool Virat, the presiding deity of Lord VenkateswaraThe MLA denied the offering had anything to do with the brothers’ political ambitions or that they were hoping for the chief minister’s chair“If the chief minister’s post was written in our fate, who could have stopped us from assuming it? God has already made us Cabinet ministers and we are not power hungry,” he said, speaking to reportersAccording to him, Mr Janardhan Reddy had offered the crown to the Lord of the seven hills as a thanksgiving gesture, for being able to establish the Brahmani Steel plant and provide employment to 20,000 people in Kadapa and its surrounding districts Sources close to the Reddy family said that on February 9, 2009, Janardhan Reddy’s wife, Lakshmi had performed a ‘Kathyani Vrtham’ at Bellary at a cost of Rs 40 lakh for the success of her husband in the Brahmini Steel project and for his political growthMr Somashekhar Reddy performed a Yagna along with his relative — OMC director and present Congress MLA from Rayadurga constituency, Ramachandra Reddy in Andhra Pradesh at Nemakallu Anjanneyaswamy temple. “All three Reddy brothers are god-fearing and have their own favourite deities.” a close aide said

New MLAs trip up Reddys’ coup plan to dethrone CM Yeddyurappa

June 16, 2009

Shivakumar G Malagi

It must be the shortest rebellion to dateAnd B.S. Yeddyurappa has first time MLAs and their reluctance to give up their hard won seats, as well the need for the Reddys brothers to safeguard their business interests, to thank for the coup going awry The short-lived rebellion that surfaced during the first anniversary of the BJP government on May 31, was spelt out by Bellary MLA G. Somashekhar Reddy on June 3. But it sputtered and died on June 14 when the Reddys’ close aide and health minister Sriramulu said, “We have no differences with the CM and we are part and parcel of the BJP government and will strive to fulfil promises made to the people”With the announcement on Monday that the Reddy brothers were attending the Vikas Sankalp Utsav in Davanagere on June 16, the rebellion is a “closed chapter.” Insiders said that the architect of the gameplan was Janardhan Reddy who, disregarding his brother Karunakar Reddy and Sriramulu’s advice, pushed for the post of deputy CM post and the dropping of some ministers close to BSY“When the CM did not pay serious attention to our demands, Janardhan Reddy knocked on the doors of the RSS and the BJP high commandFailing that, he approached 20 MLAs whose election he had bankrolled, and asked them to resign. But only 12 MLAs including some independent MLAs turned ministers initially supported the idea,” one of the MLAs, requesting anonymity, revealed. He said most of them were young, firsttimers to the assembly“We were ready to openly claim that Janardhan Reddy is our leader. But we opposed the en masse resig nation idea that would have proved fatal to our political careers as we would be seen as destabilising a government headed by a member of the dominant Lingayat community”, the MLA admitted, adding that Lingayat vote plays a major role in winning elections in the constituencies of many of the MLAs who back the Reddy brothersThe other factor that stopped the Reddys in their tracks was the advice by their business advisors that they must play safe in politics until the completion of several projects they have in the pipeline“The Reddys could not take a chance of conducting experiments in power poli tics at this period as they need to be in power to protect their businesses and get sanction from state and centre for ongoing projectsThey were in fact alarmed at the prospect of a possible alliance between Yeddyurappa and JD(s) amid speculation that Yeddyurappa was meeting H D RevannaThat would have been fatal for the Reddys in both politics and business,” he remarkedBut only 12 MLAs including some independent MLAs turned ministers initially supported the idea,” one of the MLAs, requesting anonymity, revealed“We were ready to openly claim that Janardhan Reddy is our leader. But we opposed the en masse resignation idea that would have proved fatal to our political careers as we would be seen as destabilising a government headed by a member of the dominant Lingayat community”, the MLA admitted, adding that Lingayat vote plays a major role in winning elections in the constituencies of many of the MLAs who back the Reddy brothersThe other factor that stopped the Reddys in their tracks was the advice by their business advisors that they must play safe in politics until the completion of several projects they have in the pipeline. “The Reddys could not take a chance of conducting experiments at this period as they need to be in power to protect their businesses and get sanction from state and centre. They were in fact alarmed at the prospect of an alliance between Yeddyurappa and JD(S) amid speculation that Yeddyurappa was meeting H.D. Revanna. That would have been fatal for the Reddys in both politics and business,” he remarked

Fertile Land Acquired for Bellary Airport

July 2, 2009

Shivakumar G Malagi

Farmers who have been protesting the acquisition of their land in Sangankal, Siriwar and Chaganur villages for a greenfield airport in Bellary, claim the government has described their fertile land as dry in the gazette notification, in a deliberate move to mislead public opinionMinister for tourism and infrastructure development, Janardhan Reddy who is firm on the new airport for Bellary coming up on the site chosen near Chaganur and Siriwar on the outskirts of the city, despite the protests, recently told reporters that a gazette notification had been issued to acquire 1,250 acres in Chaganur and Siriwar villagesFarmers who have studied the gazette notification, claim it has falsely classified their fertile agriculture land as dry (kushki)They point out that the seven acres belonging to one Nemakallappa, which bears the survey No 290 A/1, has been notified as dry although the Land Record of Rights says water is being supplied to them from the high level canal of the Tungabhadra damFarmers also dispute the claim made by Mr Janardhan Reddy on the floor of the Legislative Council that the land identified for the airport did not have an irrigation canal, natural drainage or a lake. They point out that revenue department records show that agriculture land here gets water from the high level canal of the Tungabhadra dam and is served by a natural drain, Chagalamma Halla, which feeds around 500 acresLeader of the Chaganur farmers Mallikarjun Reddy says if the 1250 acres notified by the government are acquired, irrigation canal water supply, currently routed through them, will be cut off for some 4,000 acres, turning them barren“The government did not have the courtesy to invite us for talks even when we went on a padayatra to Bengaluru. It has now issued a gazette notification for land acquisition. It is being dishonest with usWe have decided not to give up our land at any cost and to continue with our agitation,” he said.
----------------“The government did not have the courtesy to invite us for talks even when we went on a padayatra to Bengaluru. It has now issued a gazette notification for land acquisitionIt is being dishonest with us.” — Chaganur farmer leader-advocate Mallikarjun Reddy

Andhra Pradesh ‘permits’ Karnataka mining

July 8, 2009

Shivakumar G Malagi

As controversy swirls over whether the Bellary mine barons will get their comeuppance in the Assembly session that opens on July 9, where the Congress and the JD(S) have vowed to take up the issue, reports from Karnataka’s iron ore rich districts indicate that permits were issued by the department of mines and geology in Andhra Pradesh to illegally transport minerals excavated from reserved forests and leased mines in the Bellary-Sandur-Hospet belt to different ports in Karnataka and GoaIn other words, some mine owners seem to have been consistently bending the rules by availing of a mining license from Andhra Pradesh but mining in Karnataka, that is, the daylight robbery of the state’s mineral wealth in reserved forests and leased minesDeputy director of mines and geology, Hospet, Siqander Basha, when contacted, claimed illegal mining on revenue patta land and in forests had been curbed in the district and only genuine state permits were being used for mineral transportation“It is wrong to say that Andhra permits are being used to transport state mineralsAs far as my knowledge goes, everything is being done in compliance with MMRD Act. I don’t know who is using AP permits to transport mineral from the state,” he saidBut according to industry sources, the modus operandi of this illegal mining mafia was to obtain permits given for lower grade ironore mines in the Kadapa, Kurnool, Veldurthi, Pellimari mining belt in Andhra Pradesh, and use them to transport minerals illegally excavated from reserved forests in Gangalapur, Vittalapur, Rajapur, Appenahalli, Ubbalagundi and other areas in Sandur-HospetIllegal movement of iron ore lumps from mines on the Karnataka border to crushing units in Malapanagudi and Siddapur villages in Andhra Pradesh is as rampant, sources said. In the absence of check-posts of the mines and geology and forest departments, the lumps sent to Andhra Pradesh for powdering return to Karnataka with Andhra permits, entitling the AP government to the royaltyA mine owner who did want to be named,claimed that apart from Andhra permits, the politically strong mining mafia sometimes raise contracts of mining leases only to encroach on adjoining mineral rich leased areas or reserved forest landThey then get permits in the names of fully excavated mines for transporting the excavated mineral. The mafia is reportedly active in the Ramanadurga hill range which has high quality iron ore and is allegedly also looting the virgin blocks or unexploited mining areas in the Kumaraswamy hill range“The mining mafia loots the reserved and virgin block mineral deposits in connivance with forest officers and the police,” sources maintainedIn July 2007, Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde is said to have written to the secretary, mines and geology, Mahendra Jain informing him that bulk permits issued by his department were being misused. A top official of a public sector mining company, who referred to the letter, said although the Lokayukta had suggested that the officers at the border check-posts should endorse the routes and also the quantity of minerals that were being carried, no action was taken.