BELAGAVI: “I am fighting to improve my reputation in state politics. Yes, I am selfish. I am not a selfless, sacrificer or saint in politics. I am fighting to become something. I will become the No.1 politician in Karnataka in the coming days. The media will come to me after I become chief minister,” BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal said in Belagavi on Sunday.
He told the media in Belagavi, “We are creating awareness among the people about the Waqf scam. After completing Kalyana-Karnataka region, we are entering the Kittur-Karnataka region. We are leaving for Delhi on Monday evening. ‘Waqf’ appears in the properties of mutts and temples. A report will be submitted to the Joint Parliamentary Committee. This is our current agenda.” Yatnal denied having any differences in the party over leadership. “The government is threatening the Lingayat Panchamsali community over the reservation issue,” he said.
“Waqf is a disease for the country. It is a fire started by minister Zameer Ahmed Khan; he had earlier claimed there was 1.15 lakh acre of Waqf land in the state, now he is claiming 6 lakh acres. Our second phase fight against Waqf will start after coming from Delhi. There has been an attack on a Dalit in Chikkaballapur over Waqf property. I will not leave the matter here.”
He claimed that the Anubhava Mantapa of Basavanna has become a ‘Peerbasha Dargah’. “Let the swamiji speak on it. Andolana Swamiji has already said he will start the fight. The fight should be along the Ayodhya model,” he said.