“I did not say that the Chief Minister will be changed after Makara Sankranti. I only said that there will be some change in the State,” MLA and BJP leader Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said in Vijayapura on Sunday. He was clarifying about his recent remarks that there would be “a big change in Karnataka after Sankranti”.
He said that there may be a change in his position too, though he quickly clarified that he would not become a Minister in Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa Cabinet. “I have decided that I will not serve as a Minister under him. I am also sure that I will not be invited. However, change is certain, and natural after Sankranti, and there may be changes in my position too,” he said.
He said that he believes a big change will happen in Karnataka, which explains the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the State. “It could be either Cabinet expansion or Cabinet reconstitution, I don’t know,” he said. Caste and regional balance will be maintained when making party leaders Ministers, he said.
“At present, I am only working towards the development of North Karnataka and Vijayapura district. I will continue my fight inside and outside my party for release of funds. I will fight for ₹ 25,000 crore for the next stage of Upper Krishna Irrigation Project and ₹ 200 crore for Vijayapura district development. I want the State government to start a government medical college in Vijayapura. I will make sure that I will try to get them,” he said.
He denied that the BJP high command had initiated disciplinary action against him. There is no need for that. “I have not violated the party discipline. I have only spoken about maladministration and slow pace of development. How can that be indiscipline. If I had done so, the party high command would come to know about it through the government’s powerful intelligence network,” he said.
