Could Gali Janardhana Reddy Spell Rout for BJP the Way Yediyurappa's KJP Did?

The last time a senior BJP leader turned against the party was when BS Yediyurappa floated his KJP.

Gali Janardhana Reddy is known as the shrewd half of Ballari's 'Reddy Brothers'. He and his two siblings – Gali Somasekhara Reddy and Gali Karunakara Reddy – were once the Bharatiya Janata Party's power centres.

Now, Janardhana Reddy has launched a new party – Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha – and is expected to contest against the BJP in 2023 Assembly elections.

The last time a BJP stalwart launched a political party to oppose the saffron party in polls, former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was at its helm. Yediyurappa's Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) cut into the BJP's vote share and allowed the Congress to rout the party in 2013 Assembly election. Ironically, the 'Yediyurappa factor' was complemented by a smaller political party started by Gali Janardhana Reddy's associate and current BJP Minister B Sriramulu. Badavara Shramikara Raitara Congress which was floated by Sriramulu in 2011, too had cut into the BJP's seat-share.

Can Gali Janardhana Reddy, who claims to have a 'father-son' relationship with Yediyurappa, repeat this history?

Why Is Janardhana Reddy Opposing the BJP?

Speaking at the launch of his party on Sunday, 25 December, Janardhana Reddy said, "Only BS Yediyurappa and Jagadish Shettar stood by my wife and children...When everything is well many people will be there with you. Only when one is in trouble does one realise who one's friends are."

Reddy was sitting close to a framed photograph of former Prime Minister and BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lingayat founder Seer Basavanna at the press conference, indicating he has neither forgotten his roots nor the electoral goal ahead of him. But what caused the rift between the BJP and Janardhana Reddy?

In 2010, Reddy and his family members were implicated in an illegal mining case. He was accused of illegally mining and exporting Rs 16,500 crore worth iron ore from Ballari in Karnataka.

The case was transferred to Central Bureau of Investigation in 2013 and Reddy was arrested and released on bail in 2015. However, before 2018 Assembly elections in Karnataka the BJP made an effort to keep Reddy at a distance. According to Reddy, Home Minister Amit Shah allegedly said that the BJP has "nothing to do with him."

Reddy, however, still has close ties with the BJP.

Janardhana Reddy's brothers Somasekhara Reddy and Karunakara Reddy are still BJP MLAs from Ballari City, Ballari and Harapanahalli, Davangere, respectively. His close associate and friend B Sreeramulu of the BJP is now the transport minister.

Despite his indirect clout in the party, Reddy was unable to convince the BJP to field him in 2023 polls. For the BJP, Reddy has been a liability as the party has been mired in allegations of corruption ever since the mining scam of 2010. Lokayukta had implicated BS Yediyurappa in the scam, forcing the fall of his government after three years of rule.

Now, current Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai too has been accused of allowing corruption to fester in the state. The Congress has accused BJP leaders of taking bribes for developmental work and government recruitments.

At the moment, relaunching Janardhana Reddy would most definitely not be the right move for the BJP. Can Reddy deal a blow to the BJP by contesting in Gangavati constituency in Koppal district?

Kalyana Karnataka Dream Premature, But BJP Could Be Affected

When Yediyurappa launched KJP and contested against the BJP in 2013, he could dent the saffron party's prospects primarily because of his clout among the Lingayats and vast experience of travelling the length and breadth of Karnataka to build the BJP from scratch. Gali Janardhana Reddy cannot boast of such a past and he has not attempted to.

While addressing the media in Bengaluru on 25 December, Reddy said he would primarily concentrate on Kalyana Karnataka or Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

Hyderabad-Karnataka region consists of six districts – Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, and Ballari. In these districts, the BJP and Congress have near equal stake as the contest is mostly neck to neck. Hence, a split in the BJP's votes could benefit the Congress.

If Janardhana Reddy manages to create a flutter in Gangavati, a constituency which is currently in the BJP's kitty, he could end up influencing voters in Ballari, his home district. In the rest of the districts in the Kalyana-Karnataka region, Janardhana Reddy is known as an established business tycoon.

Reddy still controls several businesses in the region, even BJP leaders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, vouched.

"It is a blow, but we hope to soften the blow by fielding strong candidates. We also think that Janardhana Reddy's influence is limited without the support of his brothers who are very much with the BJP," a BJP leader told The Quint.

Both Karunakara Reddy and Somasekhara Reddy have distanced themselves from Janardhana Reddy, after the latter launched his party. The BJP has decided to stress the fact that Janardhana Reddy has primarily been an industrialist and not a politician. "His stint in politics has been short," a BJP leader said.

However, Janardhana Reddy's biggest strength is his assets, a show of which he displayed calculatedly, when he organised a Rs Rs 500 crore wedding for his daughter in 2016.

The BJP leadership, however, brushed his contribution to the party aside stating, "there are others who believe in the BJP and can contribute to the party."

A senior BJP leader, meanwhile, said, "A former leader of the BJP launching a party to take on the BJP poses a moral dilemma to the electorate. We cannot ignore that."

Will Janardhana Reddy be the deal breaker in Karnataka polls? He could certainly spoil BJP's chances in some districts by shaving off the saffron party's votes.