Bengaluru, Jan. 3 -- Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday stated that "Ballari was peaceful until BJP MLA Janardhan Reddy stepped into the district", adding that "the culprits of Ballari violence would be brought to justice."

Addressing a joint press conference at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's Home office, Krishna, Shivakumar said, "There was no violence until Janardhan Reddy was allowed into Ballari. He doesn't have the right to talk about the violence. Our party will stand behind our MLA Bharat Reddy. The investigations will find out the culprits, and strict action will be taken against them."

Dismissing the BJP MLA Janardhan Reddy's statement that there was a conspiracy to kill him, the DCM accused Reddy of not b...