‘Panchamsali factor’ behind no BJP action against Yatnal

By Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not taken any action against former union minister and Vijayapura legislator Basangouda Patil Yatnal so far, despite embarrassing the party leadership with his ‘Rs 2,500 crore for chief minister’s post’ statement.

This shows the ruling party does not want to earn the displeasure of the powerful Panchamsali community, a sub-sect of Lingayats, as the state is gearing up for the Assembly election.

Yatnal belongs to the community, which has a strong presence across the State in general and North Karnataka in particular. A number of Panchamsali seers are behind Yatnal and they will hit the streets if the BJP takes any action against him.

Yatnal claimed, while addressing an event in Belagavi district on Thursday, that some agents had promised him to get the chief minister’s post for a whopping Rs 2,500 crore. He targeted former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and his son and also alleged that Large & Medium Scale Industries Minister Murgesh Nirani was ready to spend any amount to grab the CM gaddi. This came as a blessing for opposition Congress leaders to say that BJP would take money to make the chief minister. They did not waste time to demand a probe into Yatnal’s revelations.

What next?
Yatnal had brought the previous Yediyurappa government to its knees when thousands of Panchamsalis from across the State descended on the state capital seeking reservation under 2A for which the community had been striving for many years. At a time when the Panchamsalis lacked leadership, Yatnal and Vijay Kashappanvar gave the much-needed support to exert pressure on the then Yediyurappa government which sought six months time to fulfill its demands. Since then the community has been strongly backing Yatnal.

A senior BJP leader said it was not easy for the party to take action against him because the impact would be very costly for the BJP. Yatnal’s one call may cause severe damage to the party’s electoral prospects.

So the party may request Yatnal to stop talking against leaders and air his views in the party forum.