Bharatiya Janata Party clueless on defending ticket to tainted netas

Bengaluru: The state BJP seems to be clueless on defending the allotment of tickets to half a dozen ‘tainted’ leaders in the party.

The party has given tickets to former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, who served a jail term for land related corruption charges, Haratalu Halappa, who faced rape charges and former minister M.P. Renukacharya who faced charges of sexual assault. In Malur constituency, another tainted leader, Krishnaiah Setty has got the ticket, though he served a jail term along with party state president B.S.Yeddyurappa in denotification related cases.

Somashekara Reddy, younger brother of Gali Janardhan Reddy, who faced charges of bribing a judge to secure bail for his brother in an illegal mining case, has bagged the ticket for Ballari. The BJP has given ticket to former MLAs who watched porn clips in the Assembly a few years ago and is also considering the candidature of S.A. Ramdas from Mysuru and Raghupathy Bhat from Udupi. Ramadas faced charges of sexual harassment while Bhat was accused of killing his wife.

When questioned about the allotment of tickets to tainted leaders, BJP state general secretary Shobha Karandlaje said the party central leadership has taken a decision in this regard after assessing the pros and cons.