NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Assembly polls, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today ruled out the possibility of inducting mining baron and former minister from the BJP, G Janardhan Reddy, into the Congress.
However, he defended the induction of three leaders B S Anand Singh (BJP MLA representing Vijayanagar), B Nagendra (independent MLA representing Kudligi) and Ashok Kheny (Karnataka Makkala Paksha MLA from Bidar).
Asked if the party planned to admit Janardhan Reddy, Siddaramaiah said, "There is no question of inducting Janardhan Reddy, who has looted.
The chief minister said he had led the "padayatra" (in 2010) from Bengaluru to Ballari against the scam-tainted Reddy.
"So, there is no question of taking him into the party," he added.
Asked if there was pressure to induct businessman Kheny, Siddarmaiah said there was no pressure from the party leadership.
"He has been inducted without any conditions. Kheny is the managing director of the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), the implementing agency of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project that is facing allegations of irregularities.
Siddaramaiah also mentioned that the house committee that is probing the allegations of irregularities has submitted the report.
"The report is under examination. We will take action after obtaining the opinion of the law department," he said, adding that Kheny joining into the Congress will not have an impact on the government's probe.
Siddaramaiah was here in the national capital to discuss with Congress President Rahul Gandhi about three vacant Rajya Sabha seats in the state.
He said that candidates for the Rajya Sabha will be mostly from the state and ruled out giving seats to any outsider.
The polls to the Rajya Sabha seats is due on March 23, while for the state Assembly election in April-May.