BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who is holding a series of meetings with party MLAs to take them into confidence, advised party MLA from Vijayapura Basavaraj Patil Yatnal not to make allegations that cause embarrassment to the party and government. During the meeting, Yatnal is said to have accused Yediyurappa’s son Vijayendra of interfering in the government.
At the meeting, attended by other MLAs too, Yatnal reportedly told Yediyurappa that everything has to come through Vijayendra, sources said. He also said that as an MLA, he could talk to Yediyurappa directly about his grievances, and spoke about the need to take senior party leaders into confidence. The Chief Minister reportedly told Yatnal not to make such allegations. “You (Yatnal) give two different statements at Vijayapura and Bengaluru, causing damage to the party and government,’’ Yediyurappa said. He also told Yatnal that nothing stops him from visiting Krishna or Cauvery.
When Yatnal alleged that grants were not given for his constituency, it irked the other MLAs, and Siddu Savadi and Kalakappa Bandi came to the CM’s rescue.Later, Yediyurappa explained that this year’s financial status had been bad, with the State government struggling to provide funds for Covid care and flood victims. Funds were released for these two crises, and grants were not given for any MLA’s constituency, he added.
This is not the first time that Yatnal is making controversial statements. A few weeks ago, he had spoken on a change in guard and stated that Yediyurappa would not be chief minister for long, and that the party high command was looking for a replacement. After several BJP leaders demanded action against Yatnal, the state unit referred the issue to the central disciplinary committee. On Monday, BJP State President Nalin Kumar Kateel told reporters that the party had complained against Yatnal.