Former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy spent a busy day in Chanchalguda jail on Wednesday meeting visitors who turned up in large numbers.
A lot of people in fact left without seeing him after waiting outside the jail for hours; they included a State council member of Karnataka unit of BJP, Haralingappa. The 26-year-old MLA of Kampli in that State, Suresh Babu, also waited for three hours before he was let inside.
A close associate of Janardhan Reddy and former Minister B. Sriramulu postponed his visit to jail to Thursday as the VIP inmate preferred to see his relatives first. Mr. Sriramulu was said to have camped in a star hotel near the Shamshabad airport in a bid to meet Janardhan Reddy, but finally sent word that he would go on Thursday.
Janardhan Reddy's brother G. Karunakar Reddy, the latter's wife Vanaja, and a nephew from US, Lallesh Reddy, were closeted with him in the jailor's room for nearly an hour. Congress MLA of Panyam in Kurnool district Katasani Rambhoopal Reddy was with Janardhan Reddy for over two hours. An MLC from Bellary, Mrutyunjaya Janiga, also called on Janardhan Reddy. In contrast, there were few visitors for Obulapuram Mining Corporation managing director B.V. Srinivas Reddy.
Janardhan Reddy met the visitors from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. As a result, he had a late lunch comprising curd rice. He had breakfast with chapatis, jail sources said. The mining baron and his MD were shifted from the admission block to a regular barrack where they were joined by two other convicts. They were in the company of 23 other undertrials in the admission block on Tuesday.
They were supposed to have been shifted on Tuesday, but Janardhan Reddy had complained of a headache. The jail doctor certified on Wednesday that he was in good health.
