THE INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC OF REDDYS
After chasing him for over four weeks in New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Bellary, The Indian Express caught up with G Janardhana Reddy, Karnataka Tourism and Infrastructure Minister and the pivot of the Reddy Republic.
Sitting in the garden of his five-acre residence abutting a hillock in Bellary - with the local BJP MLA bowling to his 10-year-old son outside - Reddy denied all allegations of illegal activities against him and his mining companies.
On the several examples of conflict of interest and the clout he has over local officials - as detailed in the investigative series - he ducked all questions.
But his aggression was clear - he questioned the motives of none other than the Supreme Court of India's Central Empowered Committee that nailed him for encroachments into other mines and unallotted forest land. He said he would "expose" them soon. Openly discussing his proximity to BJP's Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the late YS Rajasekhar Reddy, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and his son Jaganmohan Reddy, he said some in the Congress actually wanted YSR dead. Evidence? The state government ordering a CBI probe against him. As for his key business rival, MSPL, his response was direct: "I will teach him a lesson."
Excerpts:
Many miners have told The Indian Express that you do not own mines in Karnataka but are raising contracts here (taking a cut from miners).
We are very neat and clean...we are doing our business very peacefully. We are mining our mines whatever God has given us...Show me even a single truth in what anybody is saying. These raising contracts are very cheap and I won't go up to that level.
Anantapur Divisional Forest Officer (Kallol Biswas) issued seven notices giving details of illegal activities by your companies in Andhra Pradesh, Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) and Anantapur Mining Corporation. (He mentioned "partnership agreements")
This same DFO filed a case in court saying that under very big pressure I have given so many notices to OMC saying there is threat from top government officials...He also admits before the High Court he made a very big mistake. He has said OMC is very good people (When contacted by The Indian Express, Anantapur DFO Kallol Biswas denied this. "Am I a fool to do this?" he said.)
You entered the mining business in 2002 and the boom started next year. You consider yourself lucky in entering the sector at just the right time?
Whatever happened has been fate. So we believe in God and we believe in fate. We have struggled in so many other business activities for 10-18 years. But finally we invested money in iron ore. At that time our expectation was that per tonne the value would not be more than Rs 20. We are really lucky.
How has your business grown in terms of turnover and profits?
The turnover will be more than Rs 5,000 crore for the entire period we have been in business.
In Bellary, where you are the District Minister-in-Charge, there are many complaints of illegal mining.
Whoever is making these allegations I can only say they are illegal...We are not interested (in) making money only or supporting any mining that is illegal.
The Supreme Court's Central Empowered Committee (CEC) accused your OMC of illegal mining.
The Supreme Court (has said) that it never asked the CEC to submit a report.
But the SC did ask the Andhra High Court to take note of the CEC report?
The CEC did not give any notice to OMC. They did not visit OMC... Without coming, without any notices to me, to AP government or concerned departments, by sitting in Delhi they have written a report.
Whatever respect was there for the CEC is lost. The whole country is witness to this blunder. Tomorrow, not today, I myself will prove what this CEC is about. Issues will come out as to who has done all this...in what interest CEC has done this.
You are an MLC in Karnataka and yet you are closely involved in politics in Andhra Pradesh.
My mining is in Andhra and my value addition also is in Andhra. Because Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was a Reddy like me people think so many other things. There is a lot of gossip.
He was a very nice person, very royal person and our relationship has only been that of a businessman and politician.
Our relation has been that of a chief minister and a businessman.
You said YSR is like a father figure to you.
100 per cent, more than any politics or anything he was a great person.
You have good contacts with YSR's son Jaganmohan Reddy too?
Yes.
But the Andhra government asked the CBI to probe allegations of illegal mining by OMC.
It is 100 per cent political...No reason has been given. Even if the CBI wants to investigate us, it must tell us what mistake we have done. How can they do this?
Why do you say it is political when there are wide-ranging allegations against OMC?
What is the purpose of the probe? This is a dispute between two mine owners - Bellary Iron Ores Private Ltd and myself. It is purely a civil dispute. If any differences are there of 20 metres, 30 metres or 40 metres that the government finds - that area may come to S K Modi or to me, that is the dispute. Then why is the CBI coming in the middle? It is 100 per cent political. Totally. Nothing else.
One aspect the CBI is probing is the allegation that OMC under-invoiced exports when iron ore prices were very high.
If there are any such allegations, they can prove it.
You say the CBI probe is political. Why should a Congress-led government at the Centre act against Janardhana Reddy, a friend of YSR , the Congress's face in Andhra?
All these people, I don't think, have love or affection or any other sentiments for YSR. Now people have their own doubts about his death. So much gossip is coming out, we don't know how far it is true.
Only thorough investigation will reveal what is true. Now what I am thinking is that there are Congress people itself who are very jealous of YSR and maybe they wanted his death also. I am doing the Brahmani Steel project in Kadapa that is YSR's district - 25,000 people will get employment.
There are miners in Bellary who told The Indian Express that the administration, at your behest, isn't giving them transport permits to move their ore out.
Who said this?
One is Rahul Baldota of MSPL Ltd.
Baldota is a 'mines Veerappan'. You know Veerappan, right?
He is a man who has done all illegal things and has manipulated documents. There are so many court orders against him. So much loss caused to the government. So how can there be a situation where he is getting permits?
...Whatever mistakes have been committed in the past, I want to teach him a lesson. There are so many cases against him. He is a big criminal.
There is one K C Kondaiah, an MLC of the Congress, who is an agent of the Baldotas - he is not a politician. He used to support MSPL. He raised the same question in the legislature that because of Janardhana Reddy, 'Baldota is not getting any permits and other mine owners are getting'. So then I stood up and said that Mr Kondaiah 'You are an agent of MSPL and now you have proven it by representing him on this issue. He is a mines Veerappan and if I support him like the Congress what is the difference between you and me'.
Boundary pillars in your mines along the Andhra-Karnataka border were destroyed and it's alleged that you are stalling the survey to fix them.
The Survey of India people surveyed the borders between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
They said we are 100 per cent correct, that we have not done any mistake. (A team from the Survey of India did go but no survey has been done so far.)
Even the Karnataka government, my brother is the Revenue Minister, he himself has written a letter to the Prime Minister through the Chief Minister to conduct a survey.
How were your export obligations hit when the Andhra government suspended OMC and AMC's operations in November? (After relief from the HC, the Reddys got their mining permits this month.)
My habit in business is to be a peaceful person. Whatever my commitments, they are made only when the material is ready at the port. I am a man who signs only when the material is ready to be loaded on the ship. So I have not been affected. Whatever problems the government has tried to create against me, it won't have any effect.
What about its effect on your revenue flows?
I am not dependent on mining alone. I have a very good real estate business. I am building townships in Hyderabad and even in Bellary. There are so many other business activities also so I am not totally dependent on mining alone.
How big are your other businesses?
They are worth about Rs 1,000 crore - net worth.
You are very influential in Karnataka. You made the Karnataka government reinstate all officials who were transferred in November within 15 days. How and why?
You know very well why the situation took place and what happened. That is not because we are powerful and influential. That is because of the situation.
Do you plan to contest elections some time?
Until now, the situation has not arisen. We don't know how the future will be. Whatever party decides we have to do.
About 5,000 acres of mining leases are to be licenced by the Karnataka government. When would that happen? Have any applications been made?
It will be given only to those with industries. There are already applications. Some have been there for up to eight years.
Will you apply for leases in Bellary and other places in Karnataka?
We don't have even a single lease in Karnataka. According to the new mining policy, if you plan to start an industry only, you can get leases. Like any other industrialists, how they get, I will also get.
You have said you are a businessman first and a politician later.
I am a complete businessman. My friend Sreeramulu (Health Minister) is a complete politician.
He is my best friend. Along with Sreeramulu and when Sushma Swaraj came to Bellary in 1999, we all have become very active. Swaraj contested the Bellary MP seat and Sreeramulu contested the Bellary City MLA seat.
We all involved ourselves from that time. We never had any plans to come into politics. Our entire family was working only for Sreeramulu.
After Sushma Swaraj's defeat and after Sreeramulu's defeat, we took it very seriously and we worked along with Sreeramulu.
We then won the municipal elections. In 2004, Sreeramulu won the Assembly and G Karunakara Reddy, my elder brother, won Parliament seat.
Sreeramulu became a minister in the coalition government. Like that, we have gradually won every election in Bellary district. The Gram Panchayat, the town Panchayat, the zilla Panchayat, the Assembly and the Parliament seats are all with the BJP. Sreeramulu's sister J Shantha is now the MP from Bellary district. Recently, we won the MLC elections also.
Now you have a say in what happens in Bellary and in Karnataka.
It's not like that. I am also just a man, a minister like other ministers.
Individually, financially we are very sound compared to other politicians. You are only seeing that. You are looking at me like I am powerful. How can you say I am powerful? We want to do development. If 100 mine owners are very rich, can you say that Bellary is very rich. As a minister I am doing whatever I can for Bellary only.
How do you manage your political and business interests at the same time? What about the conflict of interest?
If our calculations and vision is correct, we can do so many things. We can do both. There is time for both.
We heard you are now looking at buying jets?
No, I have only two helicopters - one Augusta Westland that I can travel day and night and a Bell helicopter.
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