A rusty board reads ‘Welcome to the Steel City of Bellary’ as one drives into this mine-rich district. This is the same Ballari known for the three Rs – Reddys, Rolls Royces and Red Gold (mining) – where, ahead of every election, mining barons-turned-politicians of the region would claim that they would usher in the ‘golden age’.
The dusty, potholed and muddy roads of the city had once seen luxury cars such as Range Rovers, Bentleys, and even a couple of Rolls Royces crisscrossing, showcasing the abundant wealth amassed by the mining barons of the region, especially the Reddy brothers – Janardhana, Somashekara and Karunakara — and the Lad bothers – Anil and Santhosh.
However, today, Ballari stands as a telling example of complete neglect and political apathy.
Ballari is a classic example of decrepit roads, collapsing infrastructure, severe water shortage, and absence of proper public sanitation. Regular drinking water supply, which has been a perpetual issue in this arid region, reaches homes once or twice a week and people still wait with bated breath for the promised “golden age”.
The Supreme Court has now banned mining in the Ballari district. However, despite its rich natural resources and abundance for the past five decades, the area has not been able to lift its people from poverty, malnutrition and unemployment.
Money has played an important part in elections, but even more so in Ballari. Since the boom in iron ore mining in 2004 in the region, this impoverished region has seen money and muscle power ruling the polls. The Reddy and Lad brothers have made elections more about money and power rather than real local issues. It is being said that candidates are spending close to Rs 100-150 crore in this seat alone to ensure a clear victory.
This time, the battle gets even more interesting with three Reddys making it a triangular contest. “This election is like the movie RRR. It’s a fight filled with drama and action. Reddy versus Reddy versus Reddy, that’s what it is. Let’s see who will come out with a victorious roar,” said Shiva Reddy, a local shoe smith, while watching and enjoying the songs being played from mini-trucks of the three political parties in favor of their candidates.
KRPP CANDIDATE: JANARDHAN REDDY’S WIFE ARUNA LAKSHMI
In this election, Ballari is seeing a high voltage three-cornered contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP), a new political outfit floated by mining baron and former BJP minister Gali Janardhan Reddy. Reddy had been jailed after a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into the Rs 2,500-crore illegal mining racket that was first exposed by the Karnataka Lokayukta. He is currently out on bail.
While the BJP and Congress have been canvassing on issues of corruption, better amenities, and building Ballari like Bengaluru, the residents are piqued by the ‘new ball in Ballari’s court – KRPP – with football as a symbol.
“My name is Aruna Lakshmi. I am the wife of Janardhan Reddy. Our symbol is football. I seek your votes on behalf of my husband. Help me win this election. We promise to bring back the glory of Ballari like my husband did when he was a minister,” requests the wife of Reddy, a KRPP candidate in the city constituency.
Reddy, the former BJP minister, has been banned from entering Ballari. An accused in the illegal mining case probed by the CBI, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in 2015 on the condition that he will not enter Ballari, Ananthapuramu and Kadapa. He is, however, contesting from the Gangavati constituency under the banner of his new party.
Travelling in a black Range Rover, clad in a simple linen saree and slippers, Lakshmi has been campaigning heavily to try and gain support for her husband who she reportedly reminds people has been kept away from Ballari for the past 12 years.
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“My husband has built highways, good roads, and provided world-class facilities when he was the minister. He was able to do a lot in the 40 months that the BJP was in power. Think how much more we can do if we are elected for five years. Why is development only restricted to Shimoga? One should think how the present government has not delivered anything to the people here,” Lakshmi told News18.
Holding a football, Lakshmi makes people touch it and assure that they will vote in her favour. One can see young men and children playing with footballs in the city, a freebie for those who are ready to support the party.
“I miss my husband while campaigning. I know he is trying to make a difference and working hard to win in Gangavati and other seats as well. But I had never dreamt that I would be contesting for the post of an MLA or dabble in politics,” she said with an emotional smile.
On the question of how she responds to people when they ask about the illegal mining case and corruption charges that led Reddy to jail, Lakshmi takes the victim tone.
“I just want to tell people that Janardhan Reddy has never cheated anybody. We only went about handling our business. There are two national political parties, one that my husband helped bring to power and the other that is jealous of him and has been running a malicious campaign against him. That party spread lies and jailed him. Nothing has been proven. Innocent people have also gone to jail. My husband is innocent,” she said.
Lakshmi is contesting against her brother-in-law Somashekhar Reddy, who is the incumbent MLA.
BJP CANDIDATE: SOMASHEKHAR REDDY
Standing from the BJP, this Reddy feels that he will win once again and enter the Vidhan Soudha, Karnataka’s seat of power.
When asked how he reacts to Janardhan Reddy’s party, he explains how his brother tried to rope him to join the new party, but he refused, citing his allegiance to the BJP.
“He (Janardhan Reddy) told me that he is going to make his wife contest against me in my seat. I said fine. Let people and God decide,” he said, in an exclusive interview with News18.
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Somashekhar made it clear that his brother can make tall claims of developing Ballari, but it is he who has worked night and day — from 5 am to 11 pm – to help the people of Ballari city.
“We all know who has his ear to the ground and is accessible. He moves around in a helicopter. But I travel by car, God has given me feet and I walk along with my people to resolve their issues. We know who is accessible to the people of Ballari and who is not,” said Somashekhar.
When asked how he felt about his brother Janardhan Reddy pitting his wife Lakshmi against him, Somashekhar brushed it aside saying he does not even consider their party even a competitor.
Are you confident of defeating your sister-in-law?
“I am 100 percent confident of defeating her. She is not my opponent. My contest is with Bharat Reddy of the Congress,” he said firmly.
CONGRESS FIELDS NA RA BHARAT REDDY
The Congress has fielded a fresh face and young leader Na Ra Bharat Reddy from this seat against Somashekhar Reddy and Aruna Lakshmi. He is the son of a prominent regional Congress leader who earlier had links with the JDS’s Suryanarayan Reddy.
Bharath calls himself a ‘young chap’ who is all set to make a change and is confident that people will elect a young leader who will improve Ballari. “Ballari has a lot of problems, especially corruption. There has been no development in the past 15 to 20 years. Everybody is expecting a young chap like me to get elected and bring in a big change. I am prepared for it,” he said.
“The ball has been kicked out of the field, they are nowhere in the field,” referring to the KRPP’s maiden election.
Janardhan Reddy’s wife is seeking votes and asking people to give her husband one more chance, how do you respond to it?
“If Ballari gives Janardhan Reddy one more chance, he will for sure sell Ballari this time,” Bharath said with a chuckle.
JDS’s LAD
Another mining baron and former MLA Anil Lad who has been earlier in the BJP and jumped ship to the Congress and now to the JDS after being denied a ticket by the grand old party is fighting the election realistically.
“We are in the fourth position. But we are definitely in the fight. I have seen how the Reddy brothers ruined my political career. When it was the Republic of Bellary, the Reddy brothers burnt my cars and my home. They influenced the BJP not to give me a ticket. Later in the Congress as well, I had been denied a ticket despite winning the seat for the party by over 18,000 votes in 2015. This time, till the last minute, the Congress kept me hanging. I went to Deve Gowda ji in the JDS and I salute the senior leader for having given me a new lease of life. He saved my political life from getting finished,” Lad told News18.
PEOPLESPEAK
If you ask the people of Ballari what they expect from the political parties, the answers are varied and politically influenced.
“This time there is a fight with a difference. Janardhan Reddy is our man from Ballari and his party has a chance of winning. KRPP and Janardhan Reddy can only make a difference like he did when he was a minister. He has worked for us. He will only win,” said Mohammad Nawaz, a restaurant owner in Ballari.
The first-time voter Kavya also supports the KRPP. “Janardhan Reddy built the Durgamma temple in Ballari and developed the city. I am hoping that he will develop Ballari if voted to power,” she said.
Bala Reddy, who runs a juice shop near Moti Circle in the heart of the mining city, said: “Our Ballari is infamous. Promises are made by every politician during an election. They come with folded hands and seek our votes. Once they are voted into power, they shift their focus on making money for themselves, leaving us poor voters in the lurch. None of the parties, be it the Congress or the BJP has done much to develop Ballari.”
Siddareddy, who proudly calls himself a Lingayat who is going to vote for the Congress, says while it is a triangular fight, his community feels that it is time to give the Congress a chance.
“The football party is nothing here. We first gave Lad a chance when he was in the BJP, he did nothing. Then we have Somashekar (BJP) a chance, he also did nothing. This time, it is the Congress for me,” he said, as he sips on a hot cup of tea by the roadside.
Harishree and her sister-in-law Sushma feel that if any change can be brought to Ballari, it would be by the BJP. They say they will vote because they believe Modi will bring that change.
Sushma said: “All of us in my village will vote for Modi and the BJP. It is not the candidate that is important to us, Modi is and he will make Ballari a hi-tech city like Hyderabad or Bangalore.”
It seems like the BJP support in the region comes from the admiration for PM Modi and the high-handedness and control exhibited by the Reddy brothers to turn this mining region into their fiefdom ‘Republic of Bellary’ through organized illegal mining and export. It is almost like it has been blown away in the dust.
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