Bengaluru: After a gap of five years, beleaguered mining baron and former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy arrived in his hometown of Ballari on Tuesday and was greeted by his supporters in scenes that have not seen in this mining town for some time now.
Mr Reddy was given a rousing welcome at the city outskirts in the evening by hundreds of his supporters as he drove in from Bengaluru in a top end Range Rover, followed by a cavalcade of luxury cars.
Soon after reaching the city, Mr Reddy garlanded the statue of Ballari Raghava, a renowned theatre personality in the heart of the city and later, he offered puja at Ballari Durgamma temple going on to garland the statue of Maharshi Valmiki before reaching his palatial house at Havambhavi area.
G. Somashekar Reddy, former MLA and elder brother of Mr Reddy said he is expected to stay on till November 10 for the wedding rituals of his daughter Brahmini. All other pre-marriage customs and traditions would be conducted in Bengaluru Palace where the marriage is taking place on November 16.
Mr Reddy is expected to personally invite the political leaders, businessmen, top bureaucrats and other influential persons of the city to his daughter's marriage.
The wedding of Reddy's daughter has set tongues wagging with the invitation card going viral on social media. The invitation card comes in a box, with a small screen that pops up with a personalised, customised video-song that the entire Reddy family is seen singing and acting to.
Ballari Lok Sabha BJP member and close confidante of Reddy mine lords, Mr B Sriramulu said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all other ministers of the Union government and senior leaders of all the political parties will be invited to the marriage. He said, CM Siddaramaiah, state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa, JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy and other senior political leaders of the state have been invited.
Sources said that Janardhan Reddy is planning to spend huge amounts of money to make it a grand and lavish affair. Film fraternities, politicians, industrialists from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are expected to attend the event. Mr Reddy wishes to rope in maximum film stars to perform at the wedding. According to the latest reports, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and actress Katrina Kaif have already agreed to dance at the wedding.
Reddy’s associates are in talks with Prabhudeva and Tamannaah to perform live during the wedding. Mr Reddy has reportedly booked about 1500 rooms in top star hotels in Bengaluru for the wedding, besides 2000 cabs and also, is said to be preparing 15 helipads in the Bengaluru palace ground.
Mr Reddy, who was arrested on September 5, 2011, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on charges of indulging in large-scale illegal mining, has been out on bail since January 20, 2015. However, he was barred from visiting Ballari and Kadapa districts during the bail period by the Supreme Court.
However, in view of his daughter's marriage on November 16, Mr. Reddy submitted a plea to the Supreme Court to permit him to visit Ballari for customary preparations and to distribute wedding invitation cards. The apex court relaxed the restrictions imposed by it and has now permitted him to visit Ballari for a limited period of 21 days - from November 1 to 21.
