G. Janardhana Reddy

Gali Janardhana Reddy (born 11 January 1967) is an Indian industrialist and politician affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party.[1]

This is a Telugu name; the family name is Gali.

Gali Janardhana Reddy
Minister in the Government of Karnataka
In office
31 May 2008 – 3 August 2011
Member, Legislative Council
In office
18 June 2006 – May 2011
Personal details
Born (1967-01-11) 11 January 1967
Bellary, Mysore State, India
NationalityIndian
Children2
OccupationBusinessman (GJR Group CMD)
WebsiteWebsite

Born

Reddy was born on 11 January 1967. He has two brothers, G. Karunakara Reddy and G. Somashekara Reddy, and an elder sister, Rajeswari. He and his siblings were born in Bellary, Karnataka to Rukminamma and Chenga Reddy, a police constable.[2]

Education

Janardhana Reddy has a pre-university college education.

Career

Reddy is an entrepreneur and a politician.

As an Entrepreneur

At the age of 21, Reddy established a residuary non-banking finance company called, Ennoble India Savings & Investment Company Limited, under the RBI in 1989. Across South India, the company had a total of 125 branches with a turnover of 350 crores. While the company was still functioning, it has stopped collecting deposits from 2003. He surrendered the Certificate of Registration to the RBI [3][4] once all the money was returned with interest to depositors. Reddy was the first person from the non-banking sector in India to obtain an appreciation letter from the RBI.

In 2001, he took over Obulapuram Mining Company (OMCPL) which had an iron-ore mining lease. The lease area contained large quantities of iron-ore lines although there was no market for these at the time.[5] His dissenters assumed that acquiring OMCPL would be his downfall but the steady increases in iron-ore prices due to China’s construction boom proved the opposite.[2]

Allegedly, his political clout helped him to get the iron-ore mining license in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh in 2004. He established the Bramhani Industries, a steel manufacturing unit, in the Kadapa district and gave employment to 10,000+ people.[6][7][8]

As a politician

Reddy came into political spotlight during the 1999 Lok Sabha elections when the Reddy brothers were working as part of Sushma Swaraj's campaign. At the time, Swaraj had been competing as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in Bellary against Sonia Gandhi, who belonged to the Indian National Congress, to become the MP. Although Swaraj was unsuccessful, she remained a patron of the Reddy’s and was known to visit Bellary frequently. After the Reddy brothers were charged[1] during the mining scandal, Swaraj distanced herself from them. The allegations against Reddy brought a bad reputation for the BJP in Karnataka and exposed opportunistic politics in the state.[9]

In 2006, due to the BJP - Janta Dal (Secular) (JDS) coalition government and the efforts of Reddy, B. Sriramulu was made a Cabinet Minister. In 2006, Reddy was made a Member of the Legislative Council to recognize his active role in increasing the BJP presence in Bellary.[10] However, in later years, Reddy fought with Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy, and made allegations, and provided evidence of corruption, resulting in his suspension.

However, H. D. Kumaraswamy did not hand over the government to B. S. Yeddyurappa at the required time. The State President of the party at the time, D. V. Sadananda Gowda and B. S. Yeddyurappa revoked Reddy’s suspension who then campaigned alongside Yeddyurappa for BJP during the Assembly Elections of 2008. Aided by Reddy’s efforts, BJP emerged as the single largest party with 110 seats and with the support of 5 independent MLA’s, BJP formed a government in South India for the first time on its own.

Reddy was then inducted as the Minister for Tourism and Infrastructure and the Minister in-charge of the Bellary district,[11] setting many developmental milestones for the state and for Bellary during this period.[12][13] In spite of allegations made against Reddy and his period of judicial custody, Reddy remains a popular politician which was witnessed by the state on 29 January 2017 [14][15] when Reddy received a standing ovation from a large crowd at the HemaVema function in the palace ground in Bangalore. Reddy did not contest in the Karnataka assembly polls in 2018; however, his brothers, Sriramulu and four other candidates close to Reddy received a BJP ticket.

Social service

Reddy runs a school for mentally retarded children since 1997 and an old age home from 2004 with his own funds..

Controversies

Over the years, Reddy has been involved in many controversies.

Illegal Mining

In July 2011, the Lokayukta of Karnataka, Santosh Hegde, published a report on the illegal mining activities in the Bellary region. Reddy was accused of completely rigging iron ore mining in this area and defrauding the government. Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation officials had clues to tax evasion and found that Reddy had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a one-dollar company in Singapore to camouflage the company's income suppression. They raided the place along with other investigative agencies and formed a report which served as the basis of the report on illegal mining. Reddy is said to have designed a "Zero-Risk system" of iron ore mining, where he seamlessly provided protection to unauthorized and unaccounted mining, with active connivance from government officials at all levels. The rule of the iron ore mafia under his command was called the "Republic of Bellary" in which no external control or governance mechanism had any effect.[16][17]

Bribery

The CBI is investigating the alleged bribing of the Hyderabad Special Court judge T. Pattabhirama Rao by Reddy's family members (G.Somashekar Reddy & H.Suresh Babu) in order to secure his bail in the Obulapuram Mining Company case. Further investigations by CBI implicated others, including a retired judge T.V. Chalapathi Rao, in the "Cash for Bail" scandal.[18] The IT department issued notices and Reddy provided an explanation to the department but these explanations were rejected by the CIT Appeals. He preferred to appeal in all the matters before the Hon'ble ITAT and the Hon'ble Tribunal has allowed all appeals in his favour by dismissing the stand taken by the IT department.[19][20]

Daughter's Wedding

Reddy was criticised over the lavish wedding of his daughter, Brahmani, which was held in Palace Grounds, Bangalore. He allegedly spent 500 crores ($71 million) for his daughter's wedding. Brahmani married a 23-year old MBA graduate who hails from a family operating gold mines in South Africa, Tanzania and a granite marble businesses in Turkey.[21][22][23][24]

Operation Kamala
Main articles: Operation Kamala and Operation Kamala in Karnataka

“Operation Kamala” (hybrid word from the English Operation and the Kannada Kamala meaning "Lotus" an Election symbol of BJP.) was a term coined in 2008, when the BJP was three seats short of majority to form the government in Karnataka under B. S. Yeddyurappa. Former minister and minelord G. Janardhana Reddy worked out a method to circumvent the Anti-Defection Law and secured the support of legislators needed to take BJP past the majority mark. Opposition parties alleged that the BJP is now expanding Operation Kamala nationwide, while BJP continues to deny this allegation.[25][26]

Arrest

Reddy was arrested on 5 September 2011 by the CBI, and taken to Hyderabad, Telangana.[27] He is accused of involvement in illegal mining of iron ore in Bellary in Karnataka and Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh. This investigation is the culmination of a recommendation to the Income Tax Department and CBI by the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister K. Rosaiah and is not directly related to the findings of Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde.[28] Once the CBI Court heard the lawyers' representations, he along with his brother-in-law, B. V. Srinivas Reddy, was remanded to judicial custody and sent to Chanchalguda Central Jail.[29] The CBI also arrested senior officers of the IAS and IRS during ongoing investigations.[30][31][32] On the 4 August 2012, a CBI court extended the judicial custody of Janardhana Reddy and four others arrested in the illegal mining case until 7 September.[33] On 21 January 2015, the Supreme Court granted his bail.

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References
  1. "Spectacular rise & steep fall of mining baron Janardhana Reddy - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  2. Yardley, Jim (18 August 2010). "Despite Swirl of Scandals, Indian Mining Bosses Thrive". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  3. "Bellary barons, Karnataka kings". The Telegraph, Calcutta, India. 8 November 2009.
  4. "The Reddy Flag Over Bangalore". Tehelka.
  5. "The Revenge Of The Reddy Republic". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 28 February 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  6. "Slideshow: India's Mining Magnates". The New York Times. 4 August 2010.
  7. Venkateshwarlu, K. (7 September 2011). "Jagan disowning Gali brothers surprising". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  8. "Links with Jagan put Reddy in spot". India Today.
  9. "Once 'her sons', Sushma now distances herself from Reddys". India Today.
  10. "Who is Janardhana Reddy?". NDTV.com. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  11. "karnataka: Reddys vs BSY: BSY looks cornered, Reddy's muscle in". Outlook Magazine.
  12. "Politics: BJP: Shobha Karandlaje, BSY's points-woman, is central to the crisis". Outlook Magazine.
  13. "A Rich Vein Of Avarice: Older hands shaped the cunning bluster of Jaganmohan, the Reddys". Outlook Magazine.
  14. "Rosaiah gets Janardhana Reddy to handle to beat Jagan". The Pioneer.
  15. "The Man From Kadappa". The Outlook.
  16. "In the 'Republic of Bellary', a minister's 'muscle power'". The Indian Express. 1 August 2011.
  17. "Report details Reddys' rule over 'Republic of Bellary'". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 28 July 2011.
  18. "CBI intensifies probe into Reddy bail scandal". The Deccan Herald.
  19. "Larger design in cash-for-bail scam?". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 18 June 2012.
  20. Mondal, Sudipto (18 June 2012). "How mining mafia established a "Republic of Fear" in Bellary". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  21. "Images of India's huge and controversial wedding". 16 November 2016 – via www.bbc.com.
  22. "Lavish wedding for Indian politician's daughter causes uproar".
  23. "In Pics: The Big Fat Reddy Wedding In Bengaluru, Photo Gallery".
  24. Deepika, K. c (15 November 2016). "Lavish setting for Reddy's daughter's wedding" – via The Hindu.
  25. Aji, Sowmya (16 May 2018). "After falling short of numbers, BJP revisits 'Operation Kamala' of 2008" – via The Economic Times.
  26. "Congress in Pondy announces protest against "horse trading" by BJP in Karnataka, Goa". 13 July 2019 – via The Economic Times.
  27. Bureaus, Our. "In pre-dawn swoop, CBI arrests Janardhan Reddy, kin in Bellary". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  28. "Karnataka mining baron Janardhana Reddy arrested". Mid Day.
  29. "CBI arrests Janardhana Reddy, Srinivas Reddy". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 5 September 2011.
  30. "Rajagopal has role in 'benami' mining: CBI". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 14 December 2011.
  31. "Srilakshmi sent to Chanchalguda jail". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 2 December 2011.
  32. "Rajagopal, Sri Lakshmi accused of fraud". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 November 2011.
  33. "Janardhana Reddy's judicial custody extended to Sept. 7". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 4 August 2012.
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