Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slams BJP over Janardhan Reddy’s re-entry into party

In a post on X, Congress leader wrote, “Janardhan Reddy, accused in the ₹35,000 crore scam, joined the BJP. 20 different cases are against him, including 9 CBI cases. There are allegations of destroying forests and mines. There are allegations of an attempt to buy the judge for ₹40 crore instead of bail.”

Lashing out at the Prime Minister and the BJP, she said, “The BJP is welcoming him with open arms. Modiji is selectively washing corrupt people from across the country in the washing machine named BJP.”

Continuing her criticism of the BJP, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra pointedly mentioned Praful Patel, highlighting recent media reports indicating that the CBI had filed a closure report in the case of a Maharashtra leader who had joined the BJP just eight months prior.

“The Prime Minister, who once accused him of a scam worth thousands of crores, is now taking the same person with him and washing away all his ‘taints’,” she added.

She further added, “On one hand, giving protection to the notorious corrupt people, giving the opposition leaders the fear of agencies and taking them under their wing and getting the cases closed, on the other hand, weakening the opposition by implicating them in fake cases, sealing their bank accounts, this is what Modiji is doing. Proof of morality!”

Also Read: Mining baron Janardhana Reddy rejoins BJP ahead of polls, BS Yediyurappa says, ‘very good decision’

Earlier, former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had said that the re-entry of former minister and MLA Gali Janardhan Reddy has his own influence in the North Karnataka region and his re-entry would benefit the party in a great manner in that region.

Reddy previously served as a state minister in the former Yediyurappa-led government until his jail in connection with an alleged mining scandal.

After being granted bail in 2015, he distanced himself from the BJP.

In 2022, Reddy established his own political party, the ‘Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha’. He contested and won the Gangawati assembly constituency in the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections. His brothers, G Karunakara Reddy and G Somashekara Reddy, who ran as BJP candidates in the previous Assembly elections, were defeated.

Karnataka, with 28 Lok Sabha seats, will hold elections in two phases on April 26 and May 7.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, despite the Congress and JDS forming a coalition against the BJP, they were decisively defeated. The BJP secured a record 25 seats, while the Congress and JDS managed only one seat each.

The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be conducted in seven phases, commencing on April 19, with vote counting scheduled for June 4.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Published: 31 Mar 2024, 08:46 AM IST