Reddy brothers eye political redemption over Ballari bifurcation

Bengaluru/Ballari: The decision to carve up Ballari and turn Vijayanagara into a new district has given the Reddy brothers, who were instrumental in the BJP coming to power in 2008 but were pushed into oblivion after being tainted by the illegal mining scam, a handle to resurrect their political careers.
G Somashekar Reddy and G Karunakar Reddy, the youngest and oldest of the politically-influential siblings, appear to be spearheading a unified Ballari movement, with both addressing separate press conferences in the past 48 hours to advocate their views.
Should the proposal to divide Ballari to create Vijaynagara district go through, it will take away two key “identifying” factors of the district — the Tungabhadra dam, the lifeline of Ballari, and the UNESCO-protected ruins of the erstwhile Vijayanagara empire in Hampi.
“We do not want to lose the ruins in Hampi or the Tungabhadra,” said Darur Purshottam Gowda, the district’s all-party committee convener. “Considering Hospet is only 60km from Ballari and has an RTO office, an assistant commissioner’s office besides other offices, the intent of disqualified MLA BS Anand Singh to breakup Ballari and form Vijayangara district is very wrong. He is playing with the emotions of the people of the district.”
Using the issue as a platform, both Somashekar and Karunakar are trying to turn emotions of people in their favour. On Saturday, Somashekar insisted “four BJP MLAs are ready to resign” if the proposal goes through. As per the proposed division, Somashekar’s constituency of Ballari City will remain in Ballari district, while Karunakar’s constituency of Harapanahalli will be in the new Vijayanagara district.
However, party insiders say the Reddys are more worried about their waning control over Ballari and are using “identity” as a front to regain political prominence.
“The bigger issue is that a large chunk of R’n’R plans, including corporate social responsibility funds, which were devised for illegal mining-hit districts of Ballari, Tumakuru and Chitradurga, will go to Vijayanagara. This will diminish the Reddy brothers’ fortunes from mining businesses,” said an insider.
While Sandur will continue to remain in Ballari district, it believed to be overexploited and miners are unlikely to find it lucrative. However, regions with great mining potential such as Hospet, Hadagali, Kottur and Kampli will be part of Vijayanagara district.
After Sandur, the second highest illegal mining occurred in Hospet, which now has claim to sizeable R’n’R funds. Mines and geology minister CC Patil estimated R’n’R plans for illegal mining ravaged districts at Rs 17,000 crore.
“The Supreme Court is yet to give its ruling on the matter and the action plan for R’n’R is yet to be ratified by the court. We will take it up at the earliest,” Patil said.