Karnataka: Mining Baron Gali Janardhan Reddy Floats New Political Party, Names It Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha

Janardhan Reddy Political Party: The former BJP Minister and mining baron will be contesting from Gangavati in Karnataka's Koppal district.

Former BJP Minister and mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy.

Months ahead of the Assembly election in Karnataka, mining baron and former BJP leader Gali Janardhan Reddy Sunday floated his own political party. He named his new party as Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha. He will be contesting from Gangavati in Karnataka's Koppal district.

While speaking to the mediapersons in Bengaluru after announcing a new political party, he said, "Remembering Vajpayee, I have decided to enter public life. I will build Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Party and take a step forward I will establish Kalyan Rajya Pragati Party and go door to door across the state I have established the party keeping the development of the state in mind."

The former minister reportedly will make an official launch of his new political party in January 2023. With this, the leader who is an accused in an illegal mining case has cut his two-decade-old association with the BJP. "In ten-fifteen days I will announce the party flag, symbol, also come out with plans regarding manifesto and probably with some candidates," he added.

Karnataka | Mining tycoon and former minister Gali Janardhana Reddy announces his new party 'Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha' in Bengaluru. He further said that he would contest from the Gangavati assembly constituency in the upcoming state elections.

— ANI (@ANI) December 25, 2022

"Despite BJP leaders saying that I'm not a member of the party and have no relationship with it, the state and its people believed that I'm from that party, but that belief has turned out to be false. Today I'm announcing Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha, with my own thinking, with the thinking of Basavanna (12th-century social reformer), which is against the divisive politics in the name of religion and caste," Reddy said, as quoted by PTI.

"I have never failed in any of my new initiatives so far in my life. From the days of playing marbles in my childhood, I'm someone who never accepted defeat. So at the time when I'm going before the people with Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha, I'm confident about getting their blessings and there is no doubt about Karnataka becoming a Kalyana Rajya (welfare state) in the future," he added.

Reddy had been by and large inactive politically for nearly 12 years now, since the time he was arrested by the CBI for his alleged role in the mining scam, other than for a brief stint ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls when he had campaigned for his close friend and now Minister B Sriramulu in Molakalmuru Assembly segment.

(With PTI inputs)