Thaindian News

Bangalore, Aug 11 (IANS) The mining barons Reddy brothers Thursday boycotted the swearing-in of five new ministers as they again failed to secure berths either for themslves or their supporters in the Karnataka cabinet.

G. Janardhana Reddy, the most vocal of the three brothers, was in New Delhi early this week lobbying, without success, with Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) central leaders to take him and elder brother G. Karunakara ministers in the D.V. Sadananda Gowda cabinet. The two earlier held the tourism and revenue portfolios in the scam-hit B.S.Yeddyurappa ministry.

The BJP central leaders turned down Janardhana Reddy’s pleas as the two mining barons have been indicted by the Karnataka Lokayukta (ombudsman) in the illegal mining scam.

Gowda, who was also in Delhi for talks with central leaders, had told reporters that the central leaders had decided against inducting the Reddy brothers.

Janardhana’s exertions to persuade the central leaders to make at least his youngest brother G. Somashekara as well as some of their supporters ministers also did not bear fruit.

Of the five new ministers inducted Thursday, four joined the BJP at various times in the last three years while one is an Independent.

Anand Asnotikar and C.P. Yogeshwar were in the Congress, Balachandra Jarkhiholi in the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), and Raju Gowda in both the Congress and the JD-S.

Asnotikar, Yogeshwar and Jarkhiholi joined the BJP after it came to power in 2008. Raju Gowda joined the party just ahead of the May 2008 assembly elections which brought the BJP to power for the first time in Karnataka, indeed in the southern India.

Independent Varthur Prakash has been rewarded with a cabinet post as he supported the BJP when 11 legislators rebelled against B.S. Yeddyurappa last year.