Reddys plead for Sushma pardon

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The Reddy brothers, ministers in the B.S. Yeddyurappa government, who have had little success in meeting their mentor and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, who has virtually washed her hands off them, don’t intend to give up.

They hope to plead with her to forgive them if they have offended her in any way. “We plead with ‘thayi’ Sushma Swaraj to excuse us if we have done any wrong,” the brothers' close associate , health minister B. Sriramulu, said on Saturday.

Asked if the Bellary ministers had met with any success in contacting Ms Swaraj after she openly distanced herself from them, Mr Sriramulu acknowledged that attempts made so far to meet her in Delhi had not been successful.

He, however, added that the brothers planned to go to Delhi again to meet her after the two-day national executive committee meeting of the party in Lucknow and invite her to attend the Varamahalakshmi festival in Bellary in August.

“This time, we will plead with her to forgive us if we have done any wrong”, he said, adding that Ms Swaraj would always be their “goddess” and and was a key figure in bringing the BJP to power for the very first time in Karnataka.

Mr Sriramulu who was speaking at a press conference to announce his support to Baba Ramdev’s crusade against corruption, hoped that ‘thayi’ Sushma Swaraj would attend the Varamahalakshmi festival in Bellary as she does every year.

On the issue of corruption, he alleged that Congress leaders were against Baba Ramdev’s agitation as many of them had stashed away black money in Swiss banks.

“I strongly support the agitation for bringing back black money to the country and declaring it as part of national income”, he added.