BENGALURU: Politics is truly the theatre of the absurd and improbable: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who led a 320-km padayatra against leaders like G Janardhana Reddy and the ‘Republic of Bellary’ in 2012, was on Monday spotted hobnobbing with the mining lord. That the meeting happened a day before the Rajya Sabha elections makes it significant.
It all started with Congress president and DCM DK Shivakumar sitting next to Reddy in the assembly on Monday while paying condolences. Thereafter, Koppal in-charge minister Shivaraj Tangadagi accompanied Reddy, MLA of Gangavathi, which is part of Koppal district, to Siddaramaiah.
It was a coup of sorts for the Congress, because Janardhana Reddy, an independent MLA, was suspected to have been supporting Kupendra Reddy. Also, the appointment of Vikram, who is said to be close to Shivakumar, as polling agent of Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha. Asked about his decision to support the Congress, Reddy said he is yet to decide.
Sources said the other three independents -- Latha Mallikarjun, Puttaswamy Gowda and Darshan Puttanaiah -- have already agreed to support the Congress, and Reddy was the last Independent MLA to be tackled.
It may be recalled that Reddy had invited the ire of Congress leaders after an open debate in the legislative assembly, when his close friend B Sriramulu’s nephew Suresh Babu started a heated exchange of words with MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao in the House.
Siddaramaiah’s march to Ballari had helped unseat the BJP government in 2013 as the Congress romped home with four seats in then undivided Bellary district -- Huvina Hadagali, Bellary city, Siruguppa and Sandur -- as against the lone seat the Congress won in 2008 in Ballari.