Ballari Violence Driven by Political Hatred, Hand Over Case to CBI: Bommai

Ballari: Former Chief Minister and Member of Parliament Basavaraj Bommai on Friday demanded that the Ballari violence case be handed over to the CBI or investigated under the supervision of the High Court, alleging that the incident was driven by political hatred.

“The incident that took place in Ballari yesterday was driven by political hatred and was a conspiracy aimed at physically eliminating political opponents,” Bommai said in a post on X.

Claiming that rowdies linked to Congress MLA had gathered in front of former minister G Janardhana Reddy’s residence, he alleged that video footage showed eight rounds being fired by the private security personnel of a Congress MLA.

Questioning the proposal to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT), Bommai said, “There is talk of forming an SIT claiming it is not clear from which gun the bullets were fired. Several SITs have already been formed in the past, and an SIT will not be able to conduct a credible investigation.”

Calling for stringent action, he said the case should be probed either by the CBI or under High Court supervision. “After the report is submitted, a special court must be constituted to conduct the trial and award stringent punishment to the guilty,” he said.

Bommai also demanded adequate security for Janardhana Reddy and former minister B Sriramulu, and questioned the Congress government’s resolve. “The Congress government, which has brought in a law against hate speech, must show whether it has the courage to act against its own MLAs. The people are watching,” he said.

Meanwhile, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra rushed to Ballari on Friday to take stock of the situation and visit BJP workers injured in Thursday night’s violence.

Speaking to reporters after visiting Janardhana Reddy’s residence, Vijayendra said Ballari MLA Nara Bharath Reddy should be the first person booked under the proposed hate speech law. “His statements were clearly provocative. If the Congress government has any respect for the law of the land, it should first arrest its own MLA,” he said.

Alleging that Congress leaders had resorted to hooliganism, Vijayendra said, “Driven by political ambition, banners and posters were put up without permission, BJP workers were attacked and firing was carried out through private gunmen. The firing near Janardhana Reddy’s residence is an offence.”

Claiming that the victim lost his life due to bullets fired by private gunmen allegedly linked to the Congress, Vijayendra said it was for the ruling party’s MLA to answer these allegations. He also alleged that a person named Satish Reddy had fired shots using private gunmen.

Vijayendra later visited a private hospital in Ballari and enquired about the health of BJP workers injured in the violence. Former ministers B Sriramulu and Anand Singh, were present.