Congress worker killed at Nara Bharath Reddy’s direction, alleges BJP’s Janardhana Reddy

BALLARI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former minister G Janardhana Reddy on Saturday alleged that the January 1 violence in Ballari was a plot to blame him and the party for the murder of a Congress worker.

A Congress worker, Rajashekar, was killed on January 1 amid violence which erupted in Ballari during preparations for the unveiling of the Maharishi Valmiki statue at SP Circle. The BJP MLA has claimed that the party worker was killed at the direction of Congress MLA Nara Bharath Reddy. He further alleged that there is an attempt to pin the murder on him and the party.

“With thousands of people and this innocent boy, who came along with Bharath Reddy only. With his direction, only he has been killed. We demand his arrest. Nara Bharat Reddy has to be arrested immediately. After fifteen days also, they have arrested two gunmen. These private gunmen belong only to Bharat Reddy, not to Satish Reddy (BJP MLA). When they came around 9 o’clock to my home, along with Bharat Reddy only, they fired intentionally at a Congress Karyakarta,” the BJP leader said.

#WATCH | Ballari, Karnataka: On CM Siddaramaiah, BJP leader Janardhana Reddy says, “I have already said that these are your last days as Chief Minister. You yourself don’t know when you will be leaving the chair. But before you leave the chair, conduct an impartial inquiry and… https://t.co/3L23VgJIEE pic.twitter.com/DTIlxFanZ9

— ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2026

Janardhana Reddy had also planned a padayatra on January 20 to protest against the Congress-led government. However, the yatra has now been postponed. He has called for the arrest of the Congress MLA Nara Reddy representing the Bellary assembly constituency, and a CBI inquiry, adding, “They want to shift the murder incident on the BJP and me. Now, the government and the police have come to know. They already arrested two private gunmen. We demand Bharat Reddy’s arrest, and we demand a CBI inquiry.”

Reddy alleged that he does not expect a fair inquiry to take place under the state’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is claimed to be controlled by the state government. In turn, he is either demanding an inquiry by the CBI or a sitting High Court judge.

“The local police, the CID, everybody is controlled by the state government only. So we demand a CBI inquiry, and even a sitting high court judge has to enquire into this,” he said. He said that under such leadership, the state has turned towards ‘gunda raj’ with the Congress MLA “manufacturing criminals”.

“This is like a total goonda raj, their rowdism. The entire youth has been taken to a wrong path by doing all the illegal activities. He is manufacturing criminals in Ballari, the current MLA Bharat Reddy. This kind of situation happens in Karnataka. This has never happened in the history of Karnataka, even in Ballari. This MLA is coming with gundas, petrol bombs, beer bottles and private gunmen. Firing at my house, and even firing at me,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state unit of the BJP had planned a padyatra in Ballari today, January 17. However, Reddy informed that the yatra has been postponed and a new date will be announced after January 20, after the election of the party’s National President.

“That is not an issue. The party has decided that whatever we do, first let us do a big rally against the Congress government, and then next we do the padyatra. On 19 and 20 January, the election of the national president is going on. After the 20th, Vijayendra, the state president, and all other leaders, we are going to fix a padyatra date later,” he said.

On Friday, minister Priyank Kharge launched a sharp attack on the BJP over its protest in Ballari, saying that the party’s failed Padyatra had exposed a “glaring lack of leadership” within the state unit.

“They’re free to do their convention or protest. But what is glaring is the lack of leadership within the BJP. What started out as a Padyatra fizzled out even before it started,” Priyank said, adding that the failure reflected the party leaders’ lack of confidence in their own top leadership in the state.

Following the January 1 violence, the state’s CID arrested two bodyguards on Friday in connection with the incident. (ANI)