HUBBALLI: Vijayapura MLA and former union minister Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has rubbished CM Siddaramaiah’s claims of the BJP trying to buy 50 Congress MLAs by paying Rs 50 crore each.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Yatnal challenged Siddaramaiah to provide evidence to substantiate his allegations. The BJP leader said that the Intelligence Department, which operates under the CM, should release any audio, video, or other evidence of BJP leaders allegedly approaching Congress MLAs.
“If the CM has such evidence, he should make it public,” Yatnal said. He further alleged that DyCM DK Shivakumar was actively trying to destabilise Siddaramaiah’s position to become the CM.
Yatnal strongly rejected the idea that the BJP would form a government by encouraging defections from the Congress, which he described as being already mired in corruption. “If the BJP were to form a government by luring 50 to 60 Congress MLAs, it would only lead to more corruption, double that of the Yediyurappa government, which was called the ‘40 per cent government’,” Yatnal said.
Yatnal also launched an attack on BJP Parliamentary Board member BS Yediyurappa and state BJP president BY Vijayendra, accusing them of prioritising their ambitions over addressing public concerns. Yatnal accused them of being indifferent to the public’s distress over the Waqf row. Even they are not serious about the alleged ST corporation and MUDA scams, he said.
He said that his party had formed three teams to raise awareness about the Waqf issue following his announcement of a month-long tour on the subject. However, he ridiculed the party for failing to finalise the dates for the campaign, despite his commitment to it from November 25 to December 25.