Ballari: Even as former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, who is out on bail following his arrest for illegal mining, and his confidante, Member of Parliament, B Sriramulu are on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala in Kerala, political circles in Ballari are abuzz with rumours of his return to active politics in a few months.
Sources say Mr Reddy has filed a fresh application before the Supreme Court seeking to modify his bail conditions to let him visit his hometown of Ballari after a similar plea was rejected last November based on objections raised by the CBI investigating his involvement in the iron ore mining scam spread across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
"He is only waiting for the Supreme Court's permission to visit Ballari to start a fresh innings in politics ,” said a close aide of the mining baron. It’s believed he could play an active role in the BJP as he is already meeting people from his hometown while still living in Bengaluru,
"When the BJP has appointed former Chief Minister, B S Yeddyurappa as president of its state unit despite the cases of corruption pending against him, its unlikely to ignore Janardhan Reddy once he is ready to make a comeback," said a local BJP leader, claiming that Mr Reddy was already in touch with the party's state and central leaders.
The BJP could use him and Mr Sriramulu to make sure of its win in Ballari in the 2018 assembly elections, agrees a former BJP legislator.
The mining baron is said to have bankrolled the 2008 assembly and 2009 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, which saw the ascendance of the party in the state with Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa becoming CM.
Having spent three years and four months in a Bengaluru jail, Mr Reddy was released on conditional bail on January 22 2015 by the Supreme Court.
