Gali’s political outfit aims to clip BJP or Cong votes?

If the new party takes away a share of the Reddy votes, it will cut into the traditional BJP vote bank

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: Has former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy’s new political outfit Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha, which was launched here on Sunday, been formed to help the ruling BJP or to cut Reddy votes in Ballari and the neighbouring districts? It is still not clear why Reddy floated the new regional party at a time when the BJP has neither re-inducted nor dumped him.

Political pundits fail to understand the reason for him to do so when a fierce poll battle is expected in the 2023 Assembly elections. BJP netas know well that the popularity of Gali has waned ever since he was denied entry into his native Ballari district after being caught in serious cases.

His MLA brother G Somashekara Reddy as also close friend and business partner Transport Minister B Sriramulu have refused to join the new regional party. This being the case, why did Gali launch the new party is the billion-dollar question?

To transfer or cut votes?

Political analysts believe that this has been done to prevent votes of the Reddy community going to the Congress, which looks better placed to win in the region than the ruling BJP. But political leaders opine that if Reddy’s new party takes away a share of the Reddy votes it will cut into the traditional BJP vote bank.

As of today, the picture looks hazy as it is unknown which votes Reddy is eyeing; Congress or BJP? Of course, Reddy was once a force to reckon with in Ballari district at a time when popularity of the BJP was at its peak thanks to then CM BS Yediyurappa.

Candidates supported by ‘Dora’ won hands-down. The Reddy brothers were in fact controlling the Yediyurappa government, as Janardhan Reddy funded ‘Operation Kamala’. The then CM was virtually controlled by Gali and Sriramulu as long as Yediyurappa was at the helm of affairs.

Gali’s political chapter ended after he was put behind bars on serious charg es including illegal mingand altering the Karnataka Andhra Pradesh border stone. After several months of political hibernation, Reddy is trying to make a re-entry into public life with the new political outfit apart from contesting from the Gang avathi Assembly constituency in the 2023 elections. So far, the BJP leaders have not commented on Reddy’s new venture.