Delhi leaders sought Rs 2.5k crore to make me CM: Yatnal

BELAGAVI: Former Union minister Basangouda Patil Yatnal, the BJP MLA from Vijayapura, stirred yet another controversy by stating that he was asked to arrange Rs 2,500 crore to become a chief minister. He said some leaders from New Delhi met him and gave him the offer, Yatnal said while addressing a programme at Ramdurg on Friday. Warning people not to join politics and spoil their lives, he said, “There are many cheats in politics who will assure you that they will take you to New Delhi and introduce you to top leaders like Sonia Gandhi, JP Nadda, etc. Don’t fall into their trap.”

Yatnal said he was stunned when he was asked to shell out Rs 2,500 crore to become a chief minister. “I have worked as Union minister under a tall leader like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and was closely associated with leaders like LK Advani, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley. Despite knowing my profile, they asked me to arrange Rs 2,500 crore for the chief minister’s post,’’ he added.

Later, Yatnal hit out at former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, saying the latter did not induct him into the cabinet fearing that it would affect the prospects of his son Vijayendra. “I had told Yediyurappa then that I will not enter his chamber or go to Kaveri (the CM’s residence) till he remained chief minister. Later, Basavaraj Bommai asked me to meet him when he became the CM. In a closed-door discussion, Bommai admitted that he became CM only because of me (Yatnal),’’ he added. Yatnal said that though Bommai assured him of a cabinet berth, he refused, but demanded the release of Rs 10,000 crore to ensure enough water supply to the Vijayapura region.