Gali Somashekhara Reddy is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka associated with the BJP party. He is an (MLA) Vidhan Sabha 2 times of Karnataka representing the Bellary Assembly constituency for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He was also the chairman of Karnataka Milk Federation. [1] He is a member of the Reddy family that owns the Obulapuram Mining Company with iron ore mining interests in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and that has been facing allegations of illegal mining in forest lands. His brothers G. Janardhana Reddy and G. Karunakara Reddy had been ministers in the Karnataka state government led by CM B. S. Yeddyurappa of the BJP. [2] [3]
After D. V. Sadananda Gowda of the BJP took over as CM from Yeddyurappa following the Lokayukta report on illegal mining in 2011, Reddy was removed from the BJP's Karnataka state government ministry. [4] Subsequently, Yeddyurappa broke away from the BJP to form the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) and the Reddy brothers joined up with B. Sriramulu to form the BSR Congress party.
The CBI is also investigating the bribing of Hyderabad Special Court judge Pattabhirama Rao to secure bail for G. Janardhana Reddy in the Obulapuram Mining Company case, by his family members including G. Karunakara Reddy. [5] Further investigations by CBI implicated others, including a retired judge T.V. Chalapathi Rao, in the "Cash for Bail" scandal. [6] [7] He was later arrested and sent to judicial custody in the episode.
Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda is an Indian politician who served as the Prime Minister of India from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was previously the 14th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1994 to 1996. He presently is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha representing Karnataka. He is the national president of the Janata Dal (Secular) party. Born in a farming family, he joined the Indian National Congress party in 1953, and remained a member until 1962. He was imprisoned during the Emergency. He became President of the state unit of Janata Dal in 1994, and was considered to be a driving force in the party's victory in Karnataka. He served as the 8th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1994 to 1996. In the 1996 general elections, no party won enough seats to form a government. When the United Front, a coalition of regional parties, formed the central government with the support of the Congress, Deve Gowda was unexpectedly chosen to head the government after V. P. Singh and Jyoti Basu declined the post and he was elected Prime Minister. During his tenure as prime minister, he also served as Home Minister for some time. His prime ministerial tenure lasted for less than a year. After his prime ministerial tenure, he was elected to the 12th (1998), 14th (2004), 15th, and 16th Lok Sabha, as Member of Parliament for the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency. He lost Lok Sabha elections in 2019 from Tumkuru but has been elected to Rajya Sabha since.
Siddaramaiah, also referred to by his nickname Siddu, is an Indian politician who is serving as the 22nd Chief Minister of Karnataka from 20 May 2023. He also held that position previously from 2013 to 2018, being only the second person to hold that office for a full five-year term. He belongs to the Indian National Congress and is presently the leader of the Congress Legislative Party. He represented the Varuna Assembly constituency from 2023, previously from 2008 to 2018, Badami Assembly constituency from 2018 to 2023, and Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency from 2004 to 2007, 1994 to 1999, and from 1983 to 1989 in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1996 to 1999 and from 2004 to 2005 while he was a member of the Janata Dal and Janata Dal (Secular). He also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on two occasions, from 2019 to 2023 and from 2009 to 2013. Siddaramaiah was a member of various Janata Parivar factions for several years.
Haradanahalli Devegowda Kumaraswamy is an Indian politician and film producer who is serving as the Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel of India since 10 June 2024. He also served as the 18th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 2018 to 2019 and previously from 2006 to 2007. He was also the leader of the opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 2013 to 2014. He is currently the president of the Karnataka State Janata Dal (Secular). He is a member of Lok Sabha, having been elected from Mandya and the former member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Channapatna from 2018 to 2024, Ramanagara from 2004 to 2009 and from 2013 to 2018. He is the son of former prime minister of India & former Chief Minister of Karnataka H. D. Deve Gowda.
Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa, often referred to by his initials BSY, is an Indian politician. He is been serving as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Parliamentary board committee since 17 August 2022, which is considered the highest office of authority in the party. He served as the 13th Chief Minister of Karnataka, and he was former Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly between 1983 - 2022 in different timelines. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is also the only politician in Karnataka so far to have served four times as the Chief Minister and three times as the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He is the longest serving BJP Chief Minister of Karnataka. He is former MLA from Shikaripura constituency in Shimoga district, from where he has been elected eight times.
Jagadish Shivappa Shettar is an Indian politician, who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 2012 to 2013. He is currently serving as Member of Karnataka Legislative Council. He has subsequently served as Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He also served as the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly during 2008–2009. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Earlier in 2023 he had joined the Indian National Congress, where he quit the BJP on being denied the MLA ticket in 2023. He represented Hubli-Dharwad Central Vidhan Sabha seat, which he resigned in 2023 before the elections. In March 2024, he was announced as the BJP candidate from the Belgaum Constituency for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
G. Karunakara Reddy is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka, who is the member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Harapanahalli assembly constituency. He was made Revenue Minister in B.S Yeddyurappa Cabinet. He was previously a member of the 14th Lok Sabha from the Bellary constituency as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Ballari, formerly Bellary, is a major district in Karnataka. It is located at north-eastern part of Karnataka. This district belongs to Kalyana-Karnataka. This district was one of the biggest districts in Karnataka until the Vijayanagara district was carved out of Ballari district in 2021 officially.
Venur Dhananjay Kumar Alva was a former Union and Cabinet minister of India and a former Member of Parliament from Mangalore. He was cabinet minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism in 1996, Union Minister of State for Finance from 1999 to 2000 and Union Minister of State for Textiles from 2000 to 2003. He was also one of the first few BJP MPs to be elected from south India, at a time when the Congress party's reach was at its peak.
Gali Janardhana Reddy is an Indian politician and businessman who has been serving as a Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from the Gangawati Assembly constituency since 13 May 2023 being associated with the Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha. He rejoined Bharatiya Janata Party on 25 March 2024.
Nitte Santosh Hegde is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India, former Solicitor General of India and was Lokayukta (ombudsman) for Karnataka State of India from 2006 to 2011.
Obulapuram Mining Company also known as OMC or OMCPL is an iron ore mining company located in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in India. The company is owned by the brothers, G. Karunakara Reddy, G. Janardhana Reddy and G. Somashekara Reddy, who were ministers in the Government of Karnataka. The company has been fighting charges of illegal mining in forest lands on the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border. OMCPL holds iron ore mining leases in 134 hectares in Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh and iron ore reserves in these leases are estimated to be around 100 million tonnes. OMCPL is also the promoter of a Bramhani Industries Limited, an iron and steel producer. JSW steel is said to be in talks for partial ownership of OMC.
The Belekeri port scam relates to 3.5 million tons of confiscated iron ore that was exported illegally from Belekeri port near Karwar in Karnataka. After Deputy Conservator of Forests R. Gokul seized the ore and the high court refused to permit it to be exported, a large part of it was surreptitiously exported from the port. After persistent protests and public pressure, Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa, who was balancing political considerations with control of corruption, admitted to an illegal iron-ore export racket at Belekeri Port involving 35 lakh metric tonnes of iron ore. It is said that the scam was worth an estimated 60,000 crore rupees.
Mining scams in India refers to a series of alleged widespread scams in various ore-rich states of India, which has generated controversy. Such issues span encroachment of forest areas, underpayment of government royalties, and conflict with tribals regarding land rights. The spill-over of the effects of legal mining into issues such as Naxalism and the distortion of the Indian political system by mixed politics and mining interests, has gained international attention.
Bramhani Industries Limited also known as Brahmani Steels and Bramhani Steels is an Indian iron and steel company promoted by Obulapuram Mining Company and G. Janardhana Reddy. The company is building a 1.7 metric tonnes per annum steel plant in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh. The company has announced plans to source state of the art steel equipment from China. The company has also proposed to build a 6 million metric ton steel plant in Bellary. JSW steel is said to be in talks for partial ownership of OMC. Bramhani steels and Obulapuram are linked to illegal mining of Iron ore in Karnataka.
Yerra Srilakshmi is an officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Srilakshmi was the former Andhra Pradesh Secretary for Industries, she was then appointed by the Telangana as a Special Chief Secretary Chief Secretary of State Government Institutions. In December 2020 she shifted back to the Andhra Pradesh government and was appointed as the Secretary for Municipal Administration and Urban Development.
Vasagiri Venkata Lakshminarayana popularly known as JD Lakshmi Narayana, is an Indian retired police officer and politician from Andhra Pradesh. He served as the Additional Director General of Police in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He is known for leading the investigations like OMC Scandal, Emaar Properties, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy Case, Satyam Scandal and Disproportionate Assets. He had previously held the post of Joint Commissioner of Police of Thane, Maharashtra and before that as Inspector general of police Rank under Y-category security for dealing with high-profile corruption cases. He contested from Visakhapatnam constituency in the 2019 Indian general election from Jana Sena Party. He has resigned from the Jana Sena Party in 2020.
Daradahalli Byregowda Chandregowda was an Indian politician who was Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly, three-term MLA, one-term MLC, and Member of Parliament—three-terms from Lok Sabha and one-term from Rajya Sabha.
The 2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election was held on 5 May 2013 to elect members from 223 constituencies in the Indian state of Karnataka. The election for the Piriyapatna constituency was postponed to 28 May 2013 due to the death of the BJP candidate for the seat. The voter turnout in the state was 70.23%.
This is a list of minister from D. V. Sadananda Gowda cabinets starting from 4 August 2011 to 12 July 2012. D. V. Sadananda Gowda is the leader of Bharatiya Janata Party was sworn in the Chief Ministers of Karnataka on 4 August 2011. Here is the list of the ministers of his ministry.
Operation Kamala, also known as Operation Lotus is a term coined in 2008, when India's former minister G. Janardhana Reddy in the state of Karnataka, used various strategies, including persuasion and financial incentives to secure support from legislators bypassing the anti-defection law, so as to take the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) past the majority number. Operation Lotus refers to "poaching" or "bribing" of MLAs and MPs of other parties by the BJP, mainly of their rival the Indian National Congress party (INC), often to form government in states where they do not have the majority.