M.B. Patil dismisses B.P. Yatnal’s claim about signature campaign against Siddaramaiah
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Minister M.B. Patil speaking to reporters in Vijayapura on Monday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development Minister M.B. Patil has dismissed MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal’s allegations that he was involved in the process to unseat former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as baseless, reckless, and irresponsible.
“Mr. Yatnal should stop making such reckless statements. It seems he has cultivated this nasty habit of making irresponsible statements. He should realise that it makes him look like a man suffering from some sickness. Mr. Yatnal must stop making such baseless statements. Otherwise, we will be forced to take a different course of action to give a fitting reply to such lies and the smear campaigns,’’ he told reporters on Monday.
“Whether Mr. Siddaramaiah is the Chief Minister or not, he remains our leader. He was our leader in the past and is in the present, and will remain so in the future,’’ he said.
“Mr. Yatnal has made this ridiculous claim that Congress leaders Zameer Ahmed Khan, Satish Jarkiholi, and I were opposed to Mr. Siddaramaiah continuing as the Chief Minister and that we collected signatures from 36 MLAs to oust him. This is completely false. First of all, we did no such thing. Within our party, there is no practice of collecting MLAs’ signatures before leadership changes. Thirdly, there is no question of any Congress leader losing faith in the leadership of Mr. Siddaramaiah,” the Minister said.
“The decision to replace the Chief Minister was taken by the party high command for various reasons. There is no need for anyone to create unnecessary confusion regarding this. Mr. Siddaramaiah and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge are our top leaders. They are like the two eyes of our party. Both have been, are, and will continue to be our leaders. Regardless of whether they are in any position of power or not. Our respect for them remains unchanged. After the change of the Chief Minister, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has personally met and spoken with Mr. Siddaramaiah and urged him not to step back from electoral politics,’’ he said.
Mr. Patil said that there were no differences of opinion between Mr. Siddaramaiah and Minister Satish Jarkiholi. “There may be minor rifts and differences of opinion, but they are natural in politics. The Minister’s brother, Balachandra Jarkiholi, has said that the two are long-standing friends and that they had patched up after several differences of opinion. It is also true that some confusion arose between Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan and Mr. Siddaramaiah during the Davanagere by-election. But it is wrong to portray this as a permanent rift within the party,” Mr. Patil said.
“I think Mr. Yatnal is doing all this to ensure re-entry into the BJP, the party that expelled him. But I urge him not to forget his own political history. When he left the BJP, many leaders, including some of us, supported him. Mr. Yatnal contested as an independent candidate during the 2015 Legislative Council election. We helped him win by getting some second-preference votes, only to defeat the BJP candidate. It seems he has forgotten this and is busy spreading false propaganda against us today. Later, he returned to the BJP with the help of B.S. Yediyurappa. Many BJP leaders, including Jagadish Shettar and Pralhad Joshi, had opposed his return. Despite such opposition, Mr. Yediyurappa inducted him into the BJP. Mr. Yatnal subsequently turned against Mr. Yediyurappa and his family,’’ Mr. Patil said.
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