Reddy, who floated a new party in December last year after fallout with the BJP, defeated his nearest rival, the Congress’s Iqbal Ansari, by a margin of 8,266 votes.
Mining baron helped BJP form its first govt in the South and dominated state politics for years, but has now been arrested in a Rs 600-crore Ponzi scam case.
Once a Congress stronghold, Ballari saw Sonia Gandhi beat Sushma Swaraj before the controversial Reddy brothers delivered the seat to BJP for 14 years.
BJP hopes Janardhan Reddy, who faces more charges than most politicians, will deliver most of the 23 seats in his territory — 10% of the assembly’s strength.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde in his 466-page report detailed the mining scam in Karnataka’s Ballari district which cost the state an estimated Rs 16,085 crore.
Since their rise in 2008, the Reddys have promised to convert Ballari into one of India’s most progressive cities, but nothing has changed on the ground so far.
Driving an electric vehicle for months, the Hyundai IONIQ5, BMW iX and now the Kia Carens Clavis electric, has convinced me of the viability of EVs for city and mid-range commutes.
With the US-India trade deal yet to get done, rupee depreciation may be helping to mitigate India’s loss of competitiveness. The other problem is extreme despondence among overseas equity investors.
Of the total package, $649 million will be utilised for additional hardware, software, and support services, and the remaining for Major Defence Equipment (MDE).
Don’t blame misfortune. This is colossal incompetence and insensitivity. So bad, heads would have rolled even in the old PSU-era Indian Airlines and Air India.
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