Karnataka polls: Will BJP’s high-profile neta B Sreeramulu bring his Bellary charm again?

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) eying to regain its power in the southern state of Karnataka, the saffron camp fielded its important face B Sreeramulu from the Bellary constituency for its upcoming Assembly polls. Notably, the choice of Bellary for Sreeramulu was very obvious for the BJP as he has won the Bellary constituency, which is also his hometown, for three consecutive Assembly elections since 2004.

Sreeramulu, currently serving as the Minister of Transport and Tribal Welfare in the Karnataka government, rose to power by being BJP’s top leader Sushma Swaraj's local aide in 1999. 

Sreeramulu and his controversies

Being close to Sushma Swaraj, Sreeramulu contested the first Assembly polls of his life in 1999 but lost to Congress leader Diwarkar Babu. However, the defeat could not discourage Sreeramulu and he contested the next Assembly elections again from the Bellary constituency and won three consecutive terms from the seat since 2004. 

However, the BJP leader in 2011 resigned from the party alleging a mistreatment of an ally by the BJP. Meanwhile, many believed that the Sreeramuu parted his ways from the party after he was denied a ministerial berth. After the leader quit the BJP, he floated his own party, named ‘Badavara Shramikara Raithara Congress or 'BSR Congress'. However, after the failure of his party in the Karnataka 2013 Assembly elections, he buried his differences and pledged his support to BJP again ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. 

Later, the BJP leader also won the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from the Bellary seat under the banner of the BJP. Following this, Sreeramulu then contested the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections from two seats – Molkalmuru and Badami. While he won from Molkalmuru, he lost the Badami seat to the former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.