Bengaluru: Former Karnataka ministers B Sriramulu and Gali Janardhan Reddy, who were once close friends, have now turned bitter foes. Sriramulu on Wednesday for the first time publicly revealed his differences with Reddy and accused the latter of trying to finish him off politically.
"Not only Reddy is hating me but also trying to finish me off politically. He has joined hands with my political opponents in Ballari district and has been spreading false allegations against me," Sriramulu said, giving a stamp of approval for murmurs in the state politics that not all is well between the two of them.
The ongoing fight between the two came to light after BJP National General Secretary Radha Mohan Das Agarwal at the state BJP core committee meeting held on Tuesday directly blamed Sriramulu for the party's defeat in the recent byelections to the Sandur assembly segment.
"Agrawal directly accused me of being responsible for the party candidate's defeat. By saying so he humiliated me. I am sure, he did so based on the feedback provided to him by Reddy," Sriramulu said. "Ever since I have lost two elections, Reddy has been telling his supporters that I have no political standing without his support. He has said the same thing to party leaders in Delhi too," Sriramulu said.
He said that he confronted Agrawal in the meeting and dared him to prove his allegation. "When the committee headed by former CM D V Sadanand Gowda which has been formed to look into Sandur's defeat has not yet given its report, how can he blame me for being responsible for the defeat," he asked. "I will complain soon to meet the party's national leadership and explain the developments here," he added.
He also accused State BJP President B Y Vijayendra of not coming to his rescue during the meeting. "When Agrawal was making allegations, Basavaraj Bommai, Sadanand Gowda, and C T Ravi came to my defence. But Vijayendra did not. Maybe he also has some grudge against me," Sriramulu said.
For the unversed, Sriramulu and Reddy, who together rose in the state politics and the mining business that gave them enormous money and power, liked people to call them brothers rather than mere friends. They stood by each other in good and bad times. But the fissures appeared in their friendship when Reddy was sidelined by the BJP post his release from jail. Reddy reportedly became upset with Sriramulu for not helping him resurrect his political career. The divide widened when Reddy floated his political outfit ahead of the 2023 assembly segment and ensured Sriramulu's defeat on his home turf of Ballari Rural.
Though Reddy rejoined the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the bridge between the two continued and it exploded after the defeat of the BJP candidate Bangaru Hanamantu, a choice of Reddy, in the byelection to Sandur by-polls.