The Supreme Court of India on Monday granted permission to former Karnataka minister and MLA from Gangavati, Gali Janardhan Reddy, accused in a multi-million illegal mining case, to visit Ballari district after nearly 13 years. He was barred from entering his home district due to the illegal mining allegations in 2011 when he was arrested by CBI and later reported to Hyderabad. He was not allowed to visit Anantapur and Kurnool as well in connection with these cases.
”Navaratri festival will start from October 3 and I am going to visit Ballari this Thursday morning. I will first go to Gangavati, have darshan of Lord Hanuman and talk to the people who have given me political rebirth” MLA Janardhana Reddy said after the apex court order.
Reddy, who was the main accused in mining case, was arrested by CBI officials on September 5, 2011. He was granted conditional bail in 2015 in this case. But he was restricted by Supreme Court from entering Ballari, Anantapur and Kurnool districts as he might influence the witnesses and tamper the evidences.
He was away from Ballari for 13 years. Though he visited the district occasionally on court permissions to attend family weddings, he was not allowed to stay there all these years. Talking to the mediapersons at Jagannath Bhavan, BJP state office in Malleswar, he said, “After 14 years, the Supreme Court has given permission to enter to Ballari. I will go to various temples in Ballari and offer prayers. I will stay in Ballari till my last breath,” he said.”The place of birth is special for everyone. Elders say that our hometown is better than any other town,” he added.
The MLA further said: “I am an ordinary worker of BJP. The party will decide where I will contest next. I will act accordingly. When difficulties come, we remember Srimannarayana, Sri Ramachandra. But even God has to go through difficulties” he said.He said that many good things have been done in Ballari and people are aware of those.
“When Yeddyurappa was the Chief Minister, a lot of development initiatives were taken. There are many dreams for the development of Ballari. In the coming days, I will work hard to fulfill the dreams of the people of Ballari,” he said.
Fans and Supporters celebrated the decision of Supreme Court by bursting firecrackers in Ballari. They expressed happiness by distributing sweets and cake-cutting in SP circle of the city. They also visited Kanaka Durgamma Devi temple and offered special puja. A grand program has been organised in view of Reddy’s visit to Ballari city on Thursday.