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Even though Janardhana Reddy, a prime accused in the illegal mining scam, continued to campaign for the BJP less than 50km away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, attacked the Congress government of using the scam to defame the people of Ballari.
Modi was addressing a rally in Ballari, which was the epicentre of a Rs 35,000 crore illegal iron-ore mining scam. On a dais, shared by Janardhana Reddy’s younger brother Somshekara Reddy and close associate Sri Ramalu, Modi called out the Congress government for allegedly giving tickets to politicians, who were booked for illegal mining.
Claiming Karnataka has a ‘Sidda-Rupaiya” Sarkar, he said:
He further added that the Congress government was projecting Ballari as a city of thieves and robbers.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah later reacted to PM Modi’s comments. He said that the BJP’s candidate himself is the brother of mining mafia kingpin G Janardhana Reddy who brought shame to Ballari.
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