Bengaluru: Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar Saturday said the Karnataka govt was considering stricter norms for granting private firearm licences following the violent clashes in Ballari in which a Congress worker was killed after bullets were fired.“There is also a need to discuss the misuse of private guns with the Centre. This is the second such incident in the state. We are looking into it cautiously,” Shivakumar said, adding the govt would take a call on tougher norms after discussions with the state home minister.
Referring to the firing incident, Shivakumar said, “The police investigation will reveal from whose gun the bullet was fired.”Backing Congress MLA Nara Bharath Reddy, Shivakumar said the govt would not allow BJP MLA G Janardhana Reddy and his associates to revive “Republic of Ballari” once again. “Republic of Ballari” is a colloquial term used to describe a period in early 2000s when powerful mining owners, including Janardhana Reddy, were seen as operating with influence that undermined normal governance and the rule of law. Janardhana Reddy, who had been barred from entering Ballari, Anantapur and Kurnool districts after his arrest by CBI in Sept 2011 in illegal mining cases, returned to Ballari in 2024 after the Supreme Court lifted the ban.Shivakumar said Janardhana Reddy and former minister and his former associate and former BJP minister B Sriramulu had come together again after the elections. “Let them come together, but they know, and we know what exists internally between them. I do not want to talk about their cases and other issues. But as a political party, we will not allow them to bring back the old state of affairs in Ballari. We will not let them establish their ‘Republic of Ballari’,” he said.On the sequence of events leading to the clash, Shivakumar said, “Our govt is installing a Valmiki statue in Ballari for the first time. Our MLA, Bharath Reddy, has taken responsibility. Valmiki posters were installed across Ballari city. What was wrong in that? Sometimes, BJP workers put posters in front of my house too in Bengaluru. Can I say ‘don’t do it’? They do it even in front of the CM’s residence.”Questioning the trigger for the confrontation, he said, “What troubled you (Janardhana Reddy)? We were organising a celebration for the installation of the Valmiki statue. The road in front of your house is govt property, and the poster was put up on govt property. What was the need to pick a fight? We have lost a party worker. Our worker has been murdered, and the BJP is responsible for it.”Shivakumar said a police investigation was under way and that he had deputed a five-member fact-finding team of party leaders under the leadership of former minister HM Revanna. “I will talk about it more after I get their report,” he said.Defending the suspension of Ballari superintendent of police Pavan Nejjur, Shivakumar said he was aware of developments at every stage and had spoken to the SP within minutes of learning about the incident.Responding to Janardhana Reddy’s claim that there was an attempt on his life, he said, “He is a drama master. He is a film producer anyway. Who will attempt to kill someone who lives in like a fortress with security around him?”
