Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa (File Photo) Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa (File Photo)

Days after he was served a show cause notice by the BJP, Karnataka MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal alleged there was a conspiracy to unseat Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. Yatnal, who had served as a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, also accused the Central leadership of colluding with the “conspirators”.

The Vijayapura MLA had earlier lashed out at the Centre over the delay in grant of central aid for flood relief in the state. “You want one more month to go like this (without adequate flood relief from the Centre) and later remove Yediyurappa. This is your conspiracy,” news agency PTI quoted Yatnal as saying. He did not take names.

Earlier this month, he had said that the Prime Minister expressing concern over the plight of Bihar flood victims and staying silent on those affected in Karnataka has made people feel he did not care about the state as there were no immediate polls there. The party high command served him a notice on October 4 for his statements against Modi and other senior party functionaries.

“If you don’t want him (Yediyurappa as CM), call him, tell him that you are now 77-years-old which is against our party’s policy (to continue in electoral politics), take his resignation and select a new leader. Instead of doing this, you (central leaders) block the relief funds and encourage those who are Yediyurappa’s opponents,” he said.

Days after the party high command served him a show cause notice for his statements against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some other senior party functionaries over delay in grant of central aid, he appealed to the party leadership to summon Yediyurappa and his “opponents”.

“You call both Yediyurappa and his opponents. You have the capability to teach Yediyurappa a lesson if he is wrong and also those who want to unseat Yediyurappa,” he told reporters in Vijayapura.

Expressing his angst against the party leadership for not releasing aid to the flood-ravaged districts of Karnataka, Yatnal asked how “(West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Bannerjee gets the appointment (to meet PM) but not Yediyurappa.”

He “blamed” two union Cabinet ministers for “wrongly interpreting” his statements before the party high command that he was instigating people against them. “I want to convey to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and party working president J P Nadda that I am not against party. All I am trying is that there should not be any damage to the party,” he said.

Yatnal was among a section of ruling BJP lawmakers who were left out of the Yediyurappa cabinet when he took oath as chief minister on July 26, after the Congress- JD(S) coalition failed to prove majority in the Karnataka Assembly.

(Inputs from PTI)

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.