Yeddy expected to reel off rebels' criminal past and poor work record to show BJP higher-ups how, but for him, they would have been in trouble
Yeddy expected to reel off rebels' criminal past and poor work record to show BJP higher-ups how, but for him, they would have been in troubleu00a0u00a0
BELEAGUERED Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has landed in Delhi, apparently armed with a long list of things he did in the past to save the Reddy brothers from serious criminal cases like extortion.
It seems he wants to show the higher-ups in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) how mining barons G Karunakara and Janardana Reddy, who call the shots in iron ore-rich Bellary, are indebted to him but instead have repaid him with orchestrating a rebellion of BJP members of the Legislative Assembly.
Illegal mining in Bellary is at the top of the list, said those in the know. And the chief minister is understood to have taken with him records running into hundreds of pages to prove his point that he was helping them all along.
A couple of months ago, the U V Singh committee had submitted a report on illegal mining in Bellary indicting the Reddys. Even the Lokayukta had come up with a report recommending a ban on export of iron ore.
"Yediyurappa is arguing that the mining business of the Reddys could continue because of him," said a senior BJP leader. "He is trying to make the case that he has not troubled them, so the higher-ups must not listen to their complaints against him."
Unofficial tollIt is said that the Reddys started collecting an unofficial royalty from mine owners for ferrying ore in lorries after the BJP came to power in the state and they became ministers.
"They collect 30 per cent of the value of the load per lorry and that is fetching them a revenue of Rs 25 crore a day," said a source.
Yediyurappa is said to have decided to highlight this point, while defending his move to levy toll on the lorries ferry ores in Bellary. It was the recent proposal of Yediyurappa's to levy a government toll on ore lorries in Bellary that sent the Reddys on the warpath. "The government proposes to levy Rs 1,000 per lorry and this will save mining owners from the Reddys' extortion, while fetching the state revenue," said the leader.
Poor performance
Yediyuarppa is also said to have prepared a report card on the Reddys' work as ministers, showing their poor performance.
He is also going to present a list of ministers who entered the cabinet because of the Reddys' support and highlight their poor performance as well, said sources. The list includes Sriramulu, Anand Asnotiker and Balachandra Jarakiholi.
"The chief minister is going to highlight how the Reddy brothers pressured him to make some unworthy legislators ministers and how administration is suffering because of them," said a source.
Serious chargesThe criminal cases against the Reddys and their close confidant Sriramulu are believed to have got a separate chapter in the CM's report. While the Reddy brothers have many extortion cases against them, Sriramulu is facing murder and kidnap charges.
Some months ago a man called Raghunath Reddy died in a Bangalore apartment and the police registered an unnatural death case. Raghunath Reddy was behind the Reddys making it in the mining business. His death is thought to be a murder, with the needle of suspicion pointing towards the brothers.
"While narrating how he is saving the Reddy brothers from all these cases, Yediyurappa will explain how they blackmailed him right from the day the BJP government came into being," said the source.
Karunakara Reddy, who is revenue minister, said, "We are not bothered about what he (Yediyurappa) says. The high command knows that we are fighting for a cause and the MLAs are with us. We will settle for nothing less than a change in leadership."
