‘We will take Yatnal into confidence, everything will be fine in Karnataka BJP’: Vijayendra Yediyurappa

B Y Vijayendra, the new Karnataka BJP president, has assured that all issues including the discontent expressed by Basanagouda Patil Yatnal will be resolved.

Amid resentment within, among a section of leaders, over his appointment as Karnataka BJP president, B Y Vijayendra on Sunday said, everything will be fine, and every one including senior party MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who is upset, will be taken into confidence.

Newly appointed party state chief Vijayendra Yediyurappa in Bengaluru. (ANI Photo)(Arunkumar Rao)

He said, everyone in the party has the freedom to express their opinion and that the BJP's central leadership and seniors in the state unit will discuss and find a solution to all issues internally.

"You are interpreting senior leader Yatnal's statements wrongly. He has freedom to express his opinion. This is BJP, a national party. Every leader has his own opinion and based on everyone's opinion our central leadership will decide," Vijayendra said in response to a question on disgruntlement within the party, citing Yatnal's public statements.

READ | Karnataka: BJP MLAs walk out of party’s legislative meeting

Speaking to reporters here, he said, "I'm not denying that Yatnal might have made certain statements out of pain. He might have shared certain issues, but our central leadership and seniors in the state will discuss and will try to find an answer. We will take him into confidence."

To a question about senior MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi's alleged disgruntlement, he said, "All is fine, everything will be fine, nothing to worry."

Yatnal made his displeasure over the elevation of Yediyurappa’s son Vijayendra as state president, known, as he struck a discordant note saying that the party workers and the Hindu activists would not accept it if BJP becomes a party of one family, in an apparent reference to Yediyurappa and his family.

READ | BJP shouldn't be a family's party: Senior Karnataka MLA on Vijayendra's appointment

Yatnal, along with Ramesh Jarkiholi, had walked out of the BJP legislature party meeting on Friday even before it commenced to elect senior MLA R Ashoka, as its new leader, who would also be the leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

Yatnal, ahead of the meeting, had demanded that the leader of the opposition in the assembly should be from North Karnataka.

Asked about certain criticism regarding the election of the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly dubbing Ashoka as "incapable", Vijayendra said, "Who is how much incapable and who has how much capability, will be decided by the people in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, not the ruling party or others."