G Janardhana Reddy, a former Minister and mining magnate in Karnataka, who is facing charges of illegal mining, launched his new party’s poll symbol, manifesto, and first list of candidates on Monday, ahead of the Assembly elections due by May. Reddy, who had parted ways with the BJP after two decades, had formed “Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha” (KRPP) recently.
Reddy unveiled a ‘foot ball’ as his party’s poll symbol and said, “I was treated like a foot ball by everyone, whether they were my own or others or enemies, when I was in politics earlier. Now I have entered the fray to show that I can also play football with everyone.”
Some political analysts believe that KRPP may affect the BJP’s electoral prospects in some constituencies, especially in the Ballari region, by splitting its votes.
KRPP is mainly focusing on some constituencies of Kalyana-Karnataka (formerly Hyderabad-Karnataka) region, and constituencies where there is a significant presence of Telugu speaking population.
Reddy announced that he would contest from Gangavathi in Koppal district, and his wife Aruna Lakshmi from Ballari city assembly segment. He also announced the names of candidates for 10 other constituencies.
They are Mahesh (Hiriyur), Srikanth Bandi (Nagathan), Mallikarjuna Nekkanti (Sindhanur), Nagendra Neralekunte (Pavagada), Mehaboob (Indi), Lallesh Reddy (Sedam), Arekere Krishna Reddy (Bagepalli), Bhima Shankar Patil (Bidar South), Darappa Nayaka (Siruguppa), and Dr Charul (Kanakagiri).
Reddy said that his party was working on its organisation in about 15 districts, and he had been travelling in rural areas, where there was a lack of development, and people there had faith in him and his party to bring about change and development in their villages.