BENGALURU: Has BJP leader Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who in the past accused former CM BS Yediyurappa and party state president BY Vijayendra of having a tacit understanding with Congress, himself erred by raising the honeytrap issue to help a section of ruling party members, especially Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna?
Yatnal, a former Union minister, has always accused Yediyurappa and his son Vijayendra of indulging in adjustment politics. He has also accused the father-son duo of indulging in corruption and dynasty politics. According to Tumakuru Rural MLA B Suresh Gowda of the BJP, Yatnal exposed himself in the floor of the House on March 21. Raising the honeytrap issue is one of the factors that damaged Yatnal’s image, Gowda told The New Indian Express.
Recalling the turn of events in the Assembly on March 21, Gowda said that Yatnal raised the honeytrap issue and dragged Rajanna’s name after he got a chit from the treasury benches. Yatnal went through the contents of the chit and soon after, demanded a CBI probe into the alleged honeytrap and blackmail attempts targeting elected representatives in the state. The issue was then raised by Rajanna, Gowda said.
“The BJP high command would have perceived this as an attempt by Yatnal to help the Siddaramaiah camp,” Gowda said, adding that an inquiry is needed to know who sent the chit to Yatnal.
Meanwhile, Yatnal also got the long-pending Consent For Operation (CFO) from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for the sugar factory run by Siddhasiri Souharda Sahakari Niyamit (SSSN), a cooperative bank for which he is the president. KSPCB had kept the CFO pending as the factory was yet to get Environmental Clearance. “But the ruling Congress allegedly favoured Yatnal,” said a source.
Yatnal’s rivals, especially those from the Vijayendra camp, have managed to prove a point that even the former union minister has a tacit alliance with members of the Siddaramaiah government.
“In order to avenge DyCM DK Shivakumar, Yatnal might have taken Siddaramaiah’s side but he should have been neutral,” opined a BJP leader.