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Action against Yatnal discussed at BJP meet
This meeting of senior leaders comes a day after the newly elected office-bearers of the BJP have called for action against the Vijayapura MLA over his comments against senior party leaders
About 30 senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were called for a meeting by party’s state president BY Vijayendra to deliberate on the party’s strategy for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Former chief ministers BS Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai and other key leaders attended the meeting to discuss the party’s course of action.
Though the meeting was called to discuss the party’s strategy, a major point of discussion was the issue of rebel MLA Basavangowda Patil Yatnal. “The senior leaders unanimously agreed that the party could not afford to let his loose tongue and statements jeopardise the momentum gained since the appointment of the new state president and the formation of a new team of office-bearers,” read a communication from the party.
The statement said that it was decided that action, including expulsion from the party, must be taken against Yatnal to prevent any damage to the party’s prospects and its goal to win all 28 seats and contribute to Narendra Modi’s third term as Prime Minister.
Among those present in the crucial meeting were state organisational general secretary Rajesh, union minister of state Bhagwant Khuba, former union minister and Member of Parliament DV Sadananda Gowda, Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka, Council Leader of Opposition Kota Srinivas Poojari, former deputy chief ministers KS Eswarappa, Ashwathnarayan, and Govind Karjol.
This meeting of senior leaders comes a day after the newly elected office-bearers of the BJP have called for action against the Vijayapura MLA over his comments against senior party leaders.
On Tuesday, Yatnal launched a scathing attack on Yediyurappa, accusing him of engaging in “massive corruption amounting to ₹40,000 crore during the state’s Covid-19 management when the BJP government was in power”.
After the meeting on Wednesday, said BJP state general secretary P Rajeev said, “We can’t disclose the details of the discussions of a closed-door meeting but I can confirm that there has been a serious talk on this (Yatnal) issue. We will not tolerate any action that hurts the party in the state. We are hopeful that our central leadership will take the right decision in the coming days on the matter.”
