No Letter Calling Botsa A "Mafia Don": Chandra Deo

Union Minister for Tribal Welfare V Kishore Chandra Deo has clarified that he did not write any letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, or to any other leader seeking the removal of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy or PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana from their posts.

The report, published by Hindustan Times, triggered an action-reaction chain in the state Congress. However, by categorically denying writing a letter on the issue, Chandra Deo has tried to put an end to the entire controversy. However, he said that he had written a letter to the state government about three months ago seeking the cancellation of a bauxite mining lease in the Visakhapatnam Agency.

Talking to reporters here on Monday, he said that he was not authorised to suggest changes in the Chief Minister's post. He said that the party high command is capable of taking decisions on such matters.

It may be mentioned that the PCC president has already announced that he would be filing a defamation suit against the newspaper which described him as "mafia don" while quoting Chandra Deo's alleged letter. (INN)