Karnataka Congress MLA Targets Own Government In Sand Mafia Row, Then Clarifies

Karnataka Congress MLA Basavaraj Rayareddy on Monday played down controversy over his remarks about illegal sand mining in the state, telling NDTV's Deepak Bopanna the letter he wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah - in which he named senior government officials - is a "routine matter".

The Yelburga MLA was responding to a note to the Chief Minister in which he seemed to point fingers at his own government, alleging that officials from the Department of Mines and Geology are involved in large-scale stealing of sand from the banks of the Tungabhadra River.

However, this morning he told NDTV, "Sometimes sand miners go without permits... lot of newspapers had reported that. So, on that basis I wrote a letter. This is a routine matter..."

"There is no need to make such a big deal out of it," he said, declaring, "The corruption was much more when the BJP was in power... we are tackling corruption. We are taking measures."

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