BELLARY: Speculations are rife over the visit of BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, to Bellary, for this year’s Varamahalakshmi Puja.Since 1999, when she unsuccessfully contested the MP elections against Sonia Gandhi in Bellary, Sushma has been performing the Varamahalakshmi puja at the residence of B K Srinivasmurthy, a doctor here. With hardly one day left for the festival, it is still not clear whether she will come to Bellary or not.With Swaraj’s reported statement about disowning the Reddy brothers, has given rise to the speculation largely. However, the Bellary Reddys - G Janardhan Reddy and G Karunakar Reddy - have referred to her as their “mother” and “goddess for their development”.After losing the election, Swaraj had announced that she would perform puja every year in Bellary. She also began participating in mass marriages organised by B Sriramulu and the Reddy brothers, which was organized to coincide with her annual visit to Bellary.Now according to sources, the Reddys who are in Delhi nowadays, have been trying hard to ensure that she visits Bellary, as a face-saving gesture for them. They had sought her blessings ever since their indictment in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.A source said that Swaraj would not visit Bellary since her family is mourning the death of a relative. It was expected that Sushma could skip her Bellary visit this year due to her strained relationship with the Reddy clan; she was quoted as saying in in a magazine recently that she was not the mentor of the Reddys and had, in fact, opposed giving three ministerial berths to one family.In July 2009, Swaraj did not attend the mass marriage as she arrived very late from New Delhi, and took part in the launch of Vajpayee Arogyasri, a health insurance scheme.The Reddy clan are still hopeful of her arrival and preparations are completed for the mass marriage, at BDAA grounds here.
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