Shantha who? That’s a question that comes up often with regard to 36-year-old Joladarashi Shantha, the only woman BJP candidate to be elected from Karnataka in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

The Bellary MP, a complete political novice, finds herself pitched as the female representative of the Reddy camp in the current political battle between the Reddy brothers and Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa

An unknown housewife until six months ago, the sister of Karnataka Health Minister and a staunch supporter of the Reddys, 38-year-old B Sreeramulu, Shantha is being put forth as a counter to Yeddyurappa confidante and the only woman minister in the Karnataka BJP government Shobha Karandlaje.

Shantha, who has done little of note since winning the parliamentary polls by a wafer thin margin in the impoverished Bellary constituency where her brother and the Reddy brothers rule the roost on account of their mining fortunes, gave Shobha Karandlaje an unexpected tongue lashing in the heat of the current crisis. “Keep your mouth shut,” was Shantha’s message to Shobha, after the CM’s aide claimed she had nothing to do with the events which led up to the crisis. Shobha has refused to react to Shantha’s claim that she is to blame for the crisis.

The platform for Shantha’s entry into politics was laid when the Bellary parliamentary seat was reserved as a Scheduled Tribe constituency after delimitation. The Reddy brothers who control all the legislative assembly constituencies in the Bellary district were reportedly looking for a Scheduled Tribe candidate who could help them retain the district with G Karunakar Reddy being the previous incumbent.

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