india

Updated: Oct 01, 2019 22:21 IST

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Basavaraj Patil Yatnal turned against his own party on Monday, when he attacked senior leaders for delay in releasing central assistance to the state two months after devastation by floods.

Yatnal was union minister of state in the NDA government from 2003 to 2004. He was the MP of Bijapur seat till 2009, after which it was reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Caste communities.

Known for his controversial statements, Yatnal on Monday said that the state was being discriminated against because of a fight between the central leadership of the BJP and chief minister BS Yediyurappa.

Talking to the reporters, Yatnal said the people of the state had given the BJP 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, and it was now the responsibility of these MPs to press the Centre for funds.

“There are 25 MPs and they should raise their voice. It is their responsibility. Nation and state are bigger than the party,” Yatnal said. “They should take us to meet the Prime Minister. He should also look at the matter seriously. A very wrong message is being sent to the people of the state,” he added.

He said that the people in Karnataka have been impacted because of a tussle between Yediyurappa and the central leadership. “With what face can we go and tell the people that we are from the BJP” Yatnal asked.

“The prime minister tweets about Bihar and not about us. I have to answer to the people as a BJP MLA, they ask me if the PM is not tweeting about Karnataka while tweeting about Bihar because there is no election here. If this continues, we will lose our existence in southern India,” Yatnal warned.

He said there were two power centres, one in New Delhi and one here. “People feel that this politics is targeted at finishing one person. You do not meet the chief minister, release aid for the state because of that… people know everything,” he said.

Responding to the statement, BJP state spokesperson S Prakash said Yatnal was free to share his opinion. “That is his personal view. Perhaps, he has forgotten that the prime minister spoke about the floods in Maharashtra and Karnataka in his Independence Day speech,” he added. “There is no truth in these allegations, the Centre is working hard to address the problems faced by the people.”

Congress state working president Eshwar Khandre said Yatnal was speaking the truth because there was significant anger against the BJP locally. “It has been 60 days since the floods and PM Modi hasn’t uttered a word even. This is unheard of,” he said. “No wonder the BJP leaders are feeling the ire of those whose lives have been devastated by the floods,” he said.