The cold war brewing between former minister B. Sriramulu and Gangavati MLA G. Janardhan Reddy reached a peak on Thursday after the two leaders lashed out at each other in separate press meets held in Bengaluru and Ballari.
The friends-turned-foes, who helped the saffron party get a foothold in Ballari district in late 1990s, accused each other of plotting to finish each other politically.
Reddy labelled Sriramulu as "ungrateful" and mocked at his inability to win elections too.
"Sriramulu has grown insecure after the party gave ticket to Bangaru Hanumanthu, a fellow ST leader, to contest the Sandur Assembly bypolls. If Sriramulu wants to quit the party, let him do it. But why is he trying to tarnish my name? I heard that D.K. Shivakumar is trying to woo Sriramulu to join the Congress to counter PWD minister and ST leader Satish Jarkiholi," alleged Reddy, tactfully tying his adversary in knots after Sriramulu's outburst against him.
In a counter, Sriramulu recalled the incidents that led to the showdown and said, "During the core committee meeting (on Tuesday) Radha Mohandas Agarwal, BJP state in-charge openly humiliated me saying I was responsible for the party's loss in Sandur. I denied that charge as I did campaign in Sandur. Agarwal withdrew his statements after D.V. Sadananda Gowda, who is heading the committee to study the reasons for the party's defeat in Sandur, defended me saying such allegations were baseless as he was yet to submit the report. I am hurt because state president Vijayendra did not defend me."
Sriramulu, who suspects that Reddy instigated Agarwal against him, alleged that Reddy was trying to take control over Ballari once again and drive him out of the district.
The Valmiki leader, who lost consecutive elections—Ballari rural (Assembly) and Ballari (Lok Sabha)—slammed Reddy for taking credit for his political growth.
Earlier, Reddy claimed that he considered Sriramulu as his "child" and had stood by him during his tough times.
"When his maternal uncle was murdered by his political opponents, I saved Sriramulu from getting killed and also stopped him from avenging his uncle's murder. I got him a ticket to contest in 1999. He lost the seat but won the same seat in 2004. He became a minister after I urged Yediyurappa to induct him into the cabinet. I had advised him against floating his own party (BSR Congress) but in vain. In 2018, I helped him win the Molkalmuru seat in Chitradurga by 45,000 votes, even after his car was attacked during the campaign. Today, he is accusing me of curtailing his growth. He should have earned people's trust when I was away from Ballari (in jail) for 14 years. But he could not even win in his own district," mocked Reddy.
Sriramulu dismissed Reddy's claims saying he was not a "criminal" or a "wayward" person but belonged to a respectable political family.
"Party is my mother and I will not betray it. Yesterday, my party leaders asked me not to make public statements and I refrained from it. But I realised that, lies, in the hands of the powerful, becomes the truth. So I wanted to clarify my position. I built my political career through my pro-poor and anti-feudal struggles. I have a taint-free image. The BJP leadership had faith in me and gave me tickets to contest from two seats, a rare privilege extended by the parties to big leaders. I might have lost the elections, but I am still recognised as a good leader owing to my credibility. No one can build up someone unless he is destined to make it big," said Sriramulu, adding that Reddy was known for "building castles in the air".
KPCC chief DK Shivakumar slammed Reddy saying there was no truth in such claims.
BJP leader R Ashok rubbished Reddy's claims saying Sriramulu would not quit the party. "Why would he quit the party where is a core committee member only to become an ordinary party workers in another party,?" he reasoned.