The Congress has questioned Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa giving a clean chit to the Reddy brothers in the illegal mining issue after meeting senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj here.
How come Mr. Yeddyurappa suddenly realised that the Reddy brothers had nothing to do with the issue? Why had he not said so in Bangalore, Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed asked on Monday.
Talking to journalists here, he wanted to know what was the connection between the BJP leaders and illegal mining in Karnataka. Why was the BJP, which had been seeking a CBI probe on every issue, was now hesitant to hand over the illegal mining case to the premier agency? When the Opposition parties in Karnataka wanted the case entrusted to the CBI, what prevented the government from doing so?
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AICC general secretary B.K. Hariprasad, who is from Karnataka, said Mr. Yeddyurappa giving a clean chit to Revenue Minister G. Karunakara Reddy and Tourism Minister G. Janardhana Reddy “is not befitting a Chief Minister.” Last week, he himself admitted that illegal mining was going on in Karnataka and iron ore to the tune of 35 lakh tonnes was illegally exported from the State.”