Bengaluru: Former minister Janardhana Reddy and his wife Aruna Lakshmi from Bellary constituency have been announced to contest in this year’s Karnataka assembly elections.
Elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly will be held in April or May. As a result, the ruling BJP, the opposition Congress and former Prime Minister Deve Gowda’s secular Janata Dal are engaged in preliminary work. In this case, Janardhana Reddy, the leader of the Kalyana Rajya Pragati Party, which was launched last December, and former minister Janardhana Reddy, started his campaign at Gangavati in Koppal yesterday (Tuesday).
Earlier, Janardhana Reddy had told reporters: “It’s only been a month since our Kalyana Rajya Pragati Party was launched, but conspiracies are going on to shut down the party. People who have been ruling the party for many years are afraid of us. Our Kalyana Rajya Pragati Party will make a big impact in Karnataka in the upcoming elections.
I am contesting from Gangavati constituency in Koppel. That is why I came here and started the campaign. I field my wife Aruna Lakshmi in Bellary City Constituency. Even though my brother Somasekhara Reddy is contesting for BJP in that constituency and winning, I am fielding my wife in that constituency.
Even though my brothers (Karunakara Reddy, Somesekhara Reddy) and close friends (Sreeramulu, Anand Singh) are BJP MLAs, I will continue my political journey with determination. Let them travel in whatever direction they want to travel. I will field candidates in as many constituencies as I can go in these 3 months. “I will not field candidates with the intention of defeating anyone,” he said.
Political commentators have said that the announcement by Janardhana Reddy, the eldest of the Bellary Reddy brothers, who are influential in the BJP, is likely to set back the BJP in the elections.