A long-standing rivalry between prominent Lingayat politicians of the Vijayapura region of Karnataka recently triggered a resignation dare.
Last week, Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal made personal remarks and dared Congress Minister Shivanand Patil and MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar to resign from their seats and contest elections against him as Independents.
Yatnal made ‘personal attacks’ last week after a protest meeting was held to condemn his controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammed. Though he claimed that his statements were misinterpreted, Congress leaders, along with heads of different religious institutions in Vijayapura city, organised the protest last Monday to condemn his remarks.
At the rally, Yatnal came under fire from Shivanand Patil and Kashappanavar. “He does not respect any religion. He does not have faith in any religion…” Kashappanavar said.
Two days later, Yatnal hit back, saying, “I dare you to contest as Independents against me.” He accused Shivanand Patil’s father of changing their family surname for political gain, and the minister of contesting elections from Basavana Bagewadi in the district to siphon money off the Krishna irrigation projects. “With such people (Shivanand Patil and Kashappanavar), works of the dharma will not be carried out,” the firebrand MLA said.
On Friday, Shivanand Patil, who handles Textiles, Sugarcane Development, and Agricultural Marketing portfolios, submitted his resignation as MLA to Speaker U T Khader. Fearing that Yatnal could go back on his word, the minister added a condition that his resignation be accepted only if the challenger did the same. The minister later told reporters that he had not made any personal remarks against Yatnal. “I had criticised him for using derogatory terms against the Prophet. Due to this, he is making comments at a very personal level. I will contest against him in any constituency – Vijayapura city or Basavana Bagewadi,” he said. The resignation, however, was rejected by the Speaker.
Yatnal did not resign. He said that it was “foolish” of Shivanand Patil to demand his resignation before the Speaker accepted his. “His resignation letter should only have two lines saying that he is resigning due to personal reasons,” former Union Minister Yatnal said.
Meanwhile, Yatnal’s constant attacks on Parliamentary Board member B S Yediyurappa, and his son and BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, have recently earned him a six-year suspension from the primary membership of the BJP. His beef with Shivanand Patil and Kashappanavar, both leaders from the Panchamasali sect of the Lingayat community, is also seen by many as an attempt to assert his dominance over community leadership.
Yatnal and Kashappanavar had earlier shared a forum demanding reservations for Panchamasalis under the 2A category, and they have used harsh words to attack each other more recently. There is speculation that the current feud was over control of cooperative banks and sugar factories in the Vijayapura district.
Another curious development during the resignation saga was the absence of Industries Minister M B Patil, who also hails from Vijayapura. According to insiders, there were differences between M B Patil and Shivanand Patil over holding the protests on the same day when the All India Congress Committee had organised a demonstration against the Central government at Belagavi. “M B Patil had to be present at Belagavi as national leaders were attending. He sent his brother and MLC Sunilgouda Patil in his stead,” a source said.
However, this did not reportedly sit well with a section of the Congress leaders of the region, including Shivanand Patil. His absence is said to have resulted in a war of words between the two Patils of the Vijayapura district.
