New Delhi:
The arrest of Janardhana Reddy - one among the trio of powerful Reddy brothers of Bellary - has sparked off a political war of words between the two major parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (
Read: Who is Janardhana Reddy?)
Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh has attacked senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, accusing her of having "business relations" with the Reddys. Ms Swaraj is known to have close ties with the mining barons who are believed to have enjoyed her patronage ever since she contested the Lok Sabha election from Bellary in 1999.
So soon after Mr Reddy was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today over illegal mining, Mr Singh hit out saying, "Sushma Swaraj and Venkaiah Naidu had business relations with the Reddy brothers. This action (arrest) should have come three years ago."
"The Reddy brothers were not only indulging in illegal mining, but had also taken protection money from others. They were virtually running an unchallenged empire there."
But Ms Swaraj was quick to respond as she took on the veteran Congress leader head on, saying she was ready for a probe ordered by the Prime Minister himself under the supervision of the Congress General Secretary.
"I welcome this statement of Digvijaya Singh and I want that this probe should definitely be done so that the truth comes out as only when the truth comes out will I get justice...If the Prime Minister appoints Digvijaya Singh as his representative for such a probe, I will be most happy as then Digvijaya Singh can satisfy his curiosity by conducting his own investigations," Ms Swaraj said.
As both parties go for each other's jugular, what cannot be ignored is the fact that the Reddys flourished under the Congress as much as they did under their party, the BJP.
The Reddy brothers joined the BJP in the early 1990s after their small chit fund company ran into severe losses. But there was no looking back for them after the Lok Sabha polls in 1999 in Bellary. Ms Swaraj contested from the seat and lost to Sonia Gandhi but the Bellary brothers had arrived.
Even as they enjoyed a massive political clout in Karnataka, courtesy the BJP, the brothers were also being backed in their business interests by the Congress-led Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh.
Sources in the CBI say that ever since Janardhana Reddy acquired a mining license for his Obalapuram Mining Corporation (OMC) in Andhra Pradesh nine years ago, he has broken every possible rule in the book. His company illegally mined every inch of protected forest area, extending beyond the borders of Andhra Pradesh into Bellary in Karnataka. A report on illegal mining delivered last month by Justice Santosh Hegde during his term as ombudsman or Lokayukta of Karnataka indicted the Reddys and then Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa.
(Read: Justice Hegde's report on illegal mining in Karnataka)The Supreme Court-appointed Centrally Empowered Committee in its finding pointed out that the extension of mining lease granted to OMC by the YSR government from 2004 to 2017 was illegal and should have been cancelled. These blatant violations clearly couldn't have been possible without the connivance of the state administration. The Reddys also reportedly got vast amounts of land in YSR's constituency of Kadapa to set up their Brahmani Steel Plant. YSR's son, Jagan Mohan, was a stakeholder in this business but later sold his share. But Jagan strongly denied all allegations.
"You are hitting below the belt. Ask the BJP, what do I have to do with it?" he snapped today when reporters asked him about Janardhana's arrest. (
Read: Qs about Janardhana's arrest provoke Jagan)