BSY: No decision yet on Yatnal's BJP return

Belagavi: Former minister and newly elected MLC, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal from Vijayapura is wasting no opportunity to praise the leadership of former CM Yeddyurappa but the latter is still not prepared to reinduct him into the BJP. Mr Yatnal was expelled from the party after he contested as a rebel in the recent Council elections.

Commenting on whether Mr Yatnal, who is keen to join BJP, will be taken back, Mr Yeddyurappa said in Vijayapura that his party was yet to consider whether to induct Yatnal or not. After being sacked twice from BJP for hurling abuses at Yeddyurappa, Mr Yatnal, a Lingayat leader,  suddenly began praising Yeddyurappa in recent months, even calling him a great leader who should be elevated to the BJP state president's post. Mr Yeddyurappa said that after Yatnal contested as a party rebel in the Council elections successfully, he did not contact either the party or him on joining BJP again. The party leaders would take a decision on whether he should be taken back if he showed interest in returning to the party.

When his attention was drawn to the way Yatnal had criticised him in the past, he said, “It’s unfair to hold a grudge against somebody who criticised you for various reasons. Criticism is part and parcel of politics. I never bothered about individual criticism.” The former CM gave a clear indication that he was keen on having Yatnal in BJP considering the support which Yatnal got from Lingayats in recent polls.