BALLARI: The once-powerful Reddy brothers seem to have lost all control over the party unit in the district. The entire district party unit, including its president, have openly rebelled against former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy’s brother and Ballari MLA Somashekar Reddy, protesting the appointment of the new Ballari Urban Development Authority president. Sensing trouble, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday withdrew the appointment.
Trouble started after the appointment Dammur Shekhar, a lesser-known face, as president of Ballari Urban Development Authority (BUDA), following the influence of Somashekar Reddy, who also made some comments against Ballari district BJP unit president Channabasavanagouda. However, the party stood behind the president, which resulted in 48 office-bearers resigning from their posts, and putting Reddy in a spot.
CM Yedyurappa appointed Shekar last week, which led to confusion. President Channabasavanagouda, who was surprised by the appointment, submitted his resignation in protest. However, the party doused the fire by immediately. “We met the CM and state party president, urging them to cancel the appointment immediately. The CM immediately called the chief secretary and asked him to cancel the appointment. Party chief Nalin Kumar Kateel assured us that honest party workers will not be let down, so I withdrew my resignation,” said Channabasavanagouda.
However, the BJP cadre was stumped when Shekar took over as BUDA chief, with just Somashekar Reddy attending the function. “We did not attend the event. When the media asked about it, Reddy said the district party president has almost completed his term, and will continue for about two more weeks,” Gouda said, and added that Reddy even questioned his capabilities.
“It is not Somashekar Reddy who will decide my tenure. It is up to the party to decide. I came up the hard way, I never pleased anybody to move up the ladder,” he said. He also said that Reddy should look at himself before commenting on anyone else’s capabilities.
BJP organising secretary Ramlingappa also slammed Reddy, alleging he is trying to ‘hijack’ the party by bringing in his own people. “What has Somashekar Reddy done for the party? When D K Shivakumar was camping in Ballari for the 2018 bypolls and Sriramulu was busy campaigning in Hoovinahadagali, Reddy was playing host to Shivakumar.” Ramlingappa added that Reddy brought the party to the brinks due to this internal politics.
Interestingly, none of the office bearers were against Sriramulu. They said that Sriramulu is their leader, and that they have faith in the state leadership. However, they warned that this resignation spree will continue across the district until Shekar’s appointment is revoked.