VIJAYAPURA: As the countdown to Lok Sabha elections begins, BJP state leaders are busy resolving their disputes, while the tussle between MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal and Union Minister Ramesh Jigajinagi is getting worse.Yatnal, who earlier used to make indirect statements against his party colleague, has now chosen the social media to attack Jigajinagi. In his recent post, Yatnal questioned the efficiency and contribution of the parliamentarian for the development of Vijayapura.
He also pointed to the development at Makanapur village, which has been adopted by Jigajinagi under the Adarsh Gram Yojana.The comments from Yatnal came after Jigajinagi claimed that he is the only parliamentarian to have undertaken many development work in the district, while no other MP has done similar work in the last 50 years. He blamed the government for not cooperating for proper implementation of the projects.
Responding to his statements, Yatnal said, “In the last 10 years, the district has witnessed poor development works and no funds have been sanctioned under the regime of the current MP.”
According to party sources, Yatnal is making all efforts to get the ticket for one of his followers, creating a conspiracy against Jigajinagi. Another source claimed that he himself tried to get the ticket for Lok Sabha elections.
The internal party disputes started when Yatnal was inducted into the party and was given a ticket to contest the assembly elections in 2018. At that time, Jigajinagi, former minister Appasaheb Pattanshetti and some others opposed the decision of the party high command. Thereafter, the district BJP party split into two groups, one belonging to Jigajinagi and other to Yatnal.
It is because of the internal disputes that despite emerging as the largest party in the Zilla Panchayat and City Corporation, BJP failed to take over the helm of affairs in the district. Taking benefit of the rift, Congress and JD(S) leaders are jointly enjoying power in both the bodies, even though they don’t have the numbers. BJP workers now asking the leaders to resolve the issues.
BJP state president and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa is expected to sort out the issue as he will visit the city on Saturday.Denying any dispute, MLC Arun Shahapur, in-charge of the Vijayapura constituency for parliament elections, told TNIE, “The party high command will decide the candidature. If Jigajinagi is announced as the representative in the elections, all the leaders of the district, including Yatnal, should campaign for the party. Moreover, it seems the posts against the Union Minister from the social media account of Yatnal are unauthenticated, and someone is trying to ruin the harmony within the party. We are all united, there is no internal dispute.”