The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea by mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy, who had asked for permission to go to Ballari to campaign, ANI reported. His brother, Somasekhar Reddy, is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate from Ballari City.
Janardhan Reddy is out on bail and cannot visit Ballari, the court said, according to the Hindustan Times. “There is no need for him to campaign in the elections,” the court said.
According to an NDTV report, one of the conditions for his release on bail is that Reddy will not go to Ballari. Reddy had sought a 10-day reprieve from the ban to visit the constituency to campaign for his younger brother ahead of the Assembly elections due on May 12.
Reddy was made a minister in the BS Yeddyurappa government after the BJP won the Assembly elections in Karnataka in 2008. Three years later, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested him on charges of illegal mining. He was again arrested in 2015 and granted bail.
Yeddyurappa, the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, said last week that he had forgiven Janardhan Reddy, and that Reddy would campaign for the party. Yeddyurappa’s statement came after BJP President Amit Shah claimed the party had nothing to do with Reddy.
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