Karnataka's Ballari will choose a new parliamentarian on Saturday to replace B Sriramulu, who is now representing a part of the Chitradurga district in the state assembly. The new lawmaker, though, will be a placeholder, filling in till next year's general elections. The BJP is fielding Mr Sriramulu's sister J Shanta, who had won an election from the area in 2009. The ruling Congress-JD(S) combine, however, is going all out to wrest this political prize, which had been a Congress stronghold till 1999, when Sushma Swaraj took on Sonia Gandhi. Ms Swaraj lost that election, but it marked the beginning of the BJP rise in the district, where the Reddy brothers, who are now mining barons, had made their base.
