Bantwal: Former minister Ramanath Rai said that he is willing to contest in the Lok Sabha elections if permitted by the Congress supremo.

Addressing the media here, he said, “I am open to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. I will abide by the decisions made by the party supreme. I am a faithful worker of the Congress party,”

“Administrative sanction has been obtained for all the projects that I proposed for Bantwal during my tenure as minister in the Congress-led government. The work will start once the tender process is over. We have also obtained an approval for underground drainage system in Bantwal town area at a cost of Rs 56 lac,”

“The sanctioning of the work of building a sports stadium at Benjanapadavu is done at a cost of Rs 10 crore by swapping government land with private property. This is the first instance of this kind in the state of Karnataka, wherein government land is swapped with private property.

Two-lane road construction from BC Road to Punjalakatte has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 150 crore, he added.

The sand mining mafia was active in and around Mularapatna bridge from past 15 years. Sand mining was active during BJP rule.

Local Congress leaders B H Khader, Abbas Ali and others were present in the press conference.