Karnataka: Yatnal alleges Siddaramaiah was "ditched" by trusted aides, slams BJP state president Vijayendra

Yatnal detailed the internal politics of the Congress party, alleging that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was undermined by his closest loyalists during high-level meetings in New Delhi.

"I am not saying it; it is being said because he is last in the CM race. Satish Jarkiholi made 2-3 mistakes. Siddaramaiah ditched him. Unfortunately, all those whom Siddaramaiah trusted so much, they all ditched him. One was Jarkiholi; MB Patil ditched, Zameer Ahmed anyway keeps ditching. I had told in the Assembly itself about Zameer Ahmed Khan - I told Siddaramaiah, 'Sir, one day or the other he will ditch you'. I myself said Zameer Ahmed Khan will ditch. You gave him a thousand crores, two thousand crores for minorities; what happened?" he questioned.

He further questioned the silence of the key beneficiaries of Siddaramaiahs schemes and named the leaders who allegedly petitioned for his removal.

"If you try to pull Siddaramaiah down, is there a single Muslim leader, a single Muslim MLA who said, 'beware if you pull down Siddaramaiah'? What did they say? 36 people signed and gave their support under the leadership of Satish Jarkiholi to remove Siddaramaiah. Without any objection, the ones who signed and gave are Satish Jarkiholi, MB Patil... However much Siddaramaiah trusted Zameer Ahmed Khan, poor fellow, for what reason they removed him, they should tell people outside. What was the reason for removing Siddaramaiah? Was he removed because he didn't give more money to the high command?" he said.

Reiterating the account told to him by Congress lawmakers, Yatnal recounted the sequence of events at the Congress high command meeting.

"There is a belief... Till 1:30 in the afternoon, Siddaramaiah was confident. What happened in front of Rahul Gandhi, I will tell you what happened inside, as told to me by Congress MLAs who came and told me. Till 1:30, Siddaramaiah was sitting in front of Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi did not give him any importance. Poor leader... We will use this; you are a big backwards-class leader... In the afternoon, Siddaramaiah lost his identity. Three-four MLAs came near my chair and told me, 'Yatnal ji, this is what happened,'" he said.

"In the afternoon, everyone went for lunch. Rahul Gandhi went for lunch, Siddaramaiah went for lunch. After having lunch, Rahul Gandhi went to Sonia Gandhi's house, along with Priyanka Vadra. Sonia Gandhi they discussed. After coming back from lunch, Rahul Gandhi sat; around 3:30-4:00, Siddaramaiah came and sat. At once, Rahul Gandhi said - From today, today itself, you go and resign. This is what Congress people told. Siddaramaiah said, 'Give me one day' - Rahul said No."

"Siddaramaiah trusted Rahul Gandhi a lot. Once, when I went to give my son's wedding card, he told me - 'No Yatnale, Rahul Gandhi has a lot of affection for me, no change,'" he added.Turning his focus to the BJP internal dynamics, Yatnal lashed out at State President BY Vijayendra and the legacy of former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

"People are watching for entertainment; they are taking entertainment. What should they do? What has happened to them? Let this continue till November; after that... And they did injustice to our Lingayats. It is Yediyurappa who pedalled a cycle and built the party. Yediyurappa is the mother and father of BJP in Karnataka - there is such a slogan. And there are some scoundrels, including our own MLAs, who fall at the feet of that Vijayendra, people who are his father's age," said Yatnal, recounting instances of sycophancy among party members.

"There is a Reddy, a revenue minister, who lost recently from our party; he told me... He had gone to meet Yediyurappa when he was an MLA; in 2018 they all went to Yediyurappa's house... These MLAs of our BJP go and do namaskar to Vijayendra's knees, touching his feet. How shameful. When the time comes for people... Why? Because to become a minister, he would tear and throw away all my letters. The moment Yediyurappa wrote "sanction 25 crores immediately", Vijayendra would take it out and throw it, saying "throw this away". Why are you doing so much sycophancy, you media people, ask?" said the expelled MLA.

Yatnal went on to make direct criminal accusations against Vijayendra,"He is 13 times more criminal than his father, Vijayendra. I have said so many times he does duplicate signatures; I have caught him directly once. Who is that Harish... who is now KPCC President... BKR Prasad said he has done fake signatures. He had the guts when he was CM; let them investigate, let them take out which duplicate signatures are there, he will go inside for forgery."Yatnal accused leaders of both the BJP and Congress of maintaining hidden political arrangements to protect one another, "There is no courage; neither BJP people nor Congress have courage. There is adjustment. DK Shivakumar said when he was going to Mysuru for a padayatra - Hey Vijayendra, you climbed the Vidhana Soudha steps because of the alms we gave. He should have answered that. What did I have to say to DK Shivakumar? Hey, you useless fellow, which son will induct a person like you into the party? Get out - there is a record; I am not saying bogus."

"In the Assembly, he told me, 'Hey, Mr Yatnal, what are you...' Shivakumar, you are like... He should have said like this, why didn't Vijayendra cry? The formula for the word 'adjustment' was first discovered by me."

Speaking on systemic corruption regarding officer transfers, Yatnal alleged,"This money-lender... Today the share goes to Vijayendra. After the amendment, 300 veterinary doctor posts, DSP posts, from there our KAS officers, Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, AC - whatever postings come from there, the share goes to him. Without that share, he did a padayatra in Ballari against the Congress government."Yatnal criticised the role of the RSS and opposition parties for playing a "double game" instead of mounting a genuine opposition to Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

"And opposition parties... What is the opposition doing today? What is RSS doing? I have scolded them in the Assembly itself. Don't do drama, don't play a double game. When you speak, speak seriously. If you are attacking, attack D K Shivakumar. I don't compromise with D K Shivakumar in front of me," said Yatnal.

Highlighting his personal record, he distanced himself from political deal-making,"I have no sand business, I have no ganja business in Bijapur, I have no fake notes business. The Chief Minister should be there. I have not gone to Siddaramaiah at all. There is no question of it. That's why these people in BJP are not arguing properly. This is Vijayendra."

Yatnal also reflected on the Vidhana Soudha proceedings and his singular political stance,"In the Assembly, he praised DK Shivakumar with some Basavanna Vachana which he can't even identify. He goes to show arrogance. Saying one Vachana, movement - saying a Vachana will not make him a Chief Minister. As we say on our side, 'Huttida guna suttaru hogodu' - the inherent nature does not go away even after burning. They are just doing drama. We have taken 224 members into confidence. The first enemy to me is the 224 in Vidhana Soudha; after that, it is me - Basangouda Patil Yatnal." (ANI)