Reddy brothers ready to lead BJP once again

DHNS
January 19, 2018

Bengaluru Jan 19: Just when illegal mining has reared its ugly head once again, a quiet political resurrection is in the works for the Ballari Reddy brothers - G Karunakara Reddy, G Somashekara Reddy and G Janardhana Reddy.

Ahead of the Assembly elections, the brothers are preparing the ground to make a comeback in the political mainstream after keeping a low profile ever since the multi-crore illegal scam rocked Karnataka about seven years ago.

The possible return of the Reddy brothers comes at a time when the ruling Congress, which rode to power by taking on the illegal mining issue, finds itself facing allegations of irregularities in the Mysore Minerals Limited. Also, faced with criticism that it is not seriously pursuing illegal mining cases, the government has decided to hand over four cases of illegal iron ore export to a special investigation team.

Karunakara Reddy, the eldest who has stayed away from the other brothers after the illegal mining scam broke out, is hopeful that the BJP will give him a ticket to contest from the Harapanahalli constituency in Davangere, where he won in 2008 and lost in 2013. He was also a Lok Sabha member representing Bellary. "I will contest from Harapanahalli if I'm given a ticket," he said.

According to Somashekara Reddy, BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa has already promised him a ticket from the Bellary city constituency, where he won in 2008. "We're confident of a victory," he said.

It is the political future of Janardhana Reddy that is stirring up curiosity. A former minister, Janardhana Reddy is out on bail in the Rs 16,085-crore illegal mining case investigated by the CBI. His bail condition states that he cannot visit Ballari in the state, Anantapur and Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh.

"If the party gives me a chance to contest polls, I will ensure the BJP comes back to power and the Congress is decimated," he announced last week at an event in Anekal, Bengaluru Urban district. If he wins the election, it will be his debut as an MLA as he was previously a member of the Legislative Council.

The BJP had expelled Janardhana Reddy from the party after the mining scam broke out.

His trusted lieutenant, BJP MP B Sriramulu, has also publicly appealed to the party's leadership to bring Janardhana Reddy back. The BJP can win all nine Assembly seats in Ballari district if Janardhana Reddy just joins the party, without even having to campaign, Sriramulu said recently. Ballari was a BJP bastion, which the Congress wrested on the back of its anti-illegal mining campaign.

The BJP, however, has remained mum on Janardhana. "I agree that he will be immensely helpful to the party, if brought back," Somashekara conjectured.

It is also said that the BJP is wary of formally bringing Janardhana back as that could affect its image, given his alleged role in the mining scam.

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News Network
May 10,2024

Mangaluru: A teenage boy from a remote village in Dakshina Kannada district, who was undergoing treatment for stomach pain for past few days, breathed his last after hospitalization. 

The deceased has been identified as Nithin Kumar, 19, who had completed PUC and was attending computer classes. 

According to police, on May 4, when he informed his family that he had been suffering from a stomach-ache for the past 4-5 days, his family members took him to a clinic in Kaniyoor.

The doctors who examined him advised him to undergo scanning. He was informed about a kidney stone and later, they returned home. That same night, he suffered from stomach-ache again and was rushed to a private hospital in Puttur.

On May 7, as per doctors’ advice, he was discharged around 12:45pm. However, when he came home around 2:30pm, he again suffered from stomach-ache and was taken to another private hospital in Puttur, where doctors conducted a surgery.

On Wednesday, as per doctors’ advice, he was asked to be shifted to Mangaluru for better treatment.

He visited a private hospital in Derakatte, where doctors suggested that he be shifted to government Wenlock Hospital.

The doctors who examined him at the Wenlock Hospital declared him dead. A case has been registered at the Bellare police station, and an investigation is on.

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News Network
May 19,2024

raghunandankamat.jpg

Naturals Ice Cream founder Raghunandan Kamath passed away following a brief illness. Born to a mango vendor in a village in Mangaluru, Kamath went on to establish Naturals, an ice cream parlour estimated to be worth Rs 400 crore today. 

"Our thoughts on the sad demise of our patron and founder of Naturals Ice Cream, Late Raghunandan Kamath. Indeed a very sad and unfortunate day for us," the company said.

Mr Kamath grew up helping his father in selling mangoes in a village Karnataka's Mangaluru. This was when he learned the art of picking the ripe fruit, plucking it, sorting it, and preserving it.

As the legend goes, a young 14-year-old Kamath boarded a train from Mangaluru and came to Mumbai (then Bombay). 

After working at his brother’s restaurant, Kamath had an idea — if ice creams have fruit flavours, why can’t they have real fruits. He decided to fill this void in the market. But unsure of whether customers would come, he began his business with serving pav-bhaji as the main dish and the ice cream as an add on.

His first ice cream parlour was launched in 1984 in Juhu, with the initial menu featuring around 12 flavours, each being a testament to the knowledge he acquired during the time he assisted his father in Mangaluru.

The demand kept growing and he opened five more outlets in 1994. Currently, it has over 165 outlets across 15 cities.
 
His story was captured expansively in ‘Intelligent Fanatics of India’, a book co-authored by Mumbai-based journalist Pooja Bhula.

Inspired by his mother's techniques, Kamath also developed innovative machines to streamline production and ensure consistency, notes the company website.

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News Network
May 18,2024

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In a fresh claim, arrested BJP leader and advocate G Devaraje Gowda has alleged that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and four other ministers were behind exposing Prajwal Revanna’s sex scam that has brought disgrace to Janata Dal (Secular) H D Deve Gowda family. 

Devaraje Gowda has been arrested in a sexual abuse case. 

Speaking to reporters while being taken to the district prisons, in Hassan on Friday, Gowda alleged that he was offered Rs 100 crore to drag the name of H D Kumaraswamy in the Prajwal’s case. 

“D K Shivakumar had offered me Rs 100 crore to project that H D Kumaraswamy was behind the case. The offer was made through ministers N Chaluvarayaswamy, Krishna Byre Gowda, Priyank Kharge and another minister. They had even sent Rs 5 crore as advance to Bowring Club. But I did not agree. Hence, they hatched a plot to trap me,” Gowda alleged.

“It is D K Shivakumar, who collected all information from Prajwal Revanna’s former car driver Karthik and readied the pen drive. A team of four ministers were formed to handle the issue. As I did not agree to the plan. They planned to bring disrepute to the BJP, Narendra Modi and H D Kumaraswamy,” he said.

Gowda further alleged that former MLC M A Gopalaswamy of Channarayapatna was sent to him for negotiation.

“The main intention of D K Shivakumar is to bring disrepute to Modi and BJP in the case. Besides, he wanted to defame H D Kumaraswamy’s leadership in the state” he claimed. “They filed a sexual harassment and rape case against me, but found no evidence. Now, they are trying to fix me in the pen drive case” he alleged.

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