The statement of Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, a BJP MLA from Vijayapura, Karnataka, during the 19th Kargil Day celebration at the District Kannada Sahitya Parishat on 26 July sparked instant controversy. This is not for the first time. In June, he had reportedly asked local party municipal members not to help Muslims.
Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, a BJP MLA from Vijayapura, Karnataka, has courted controversy again. This time his statement revolved around branding liberals and intellectuals as "anti-nationals" and by stating that he would have ordered to shoot all intellectuals and liberals if he was a Home Minister, as he believes they pose a threat to the nation.
Patil made these statements during the 19th Kargil Day celebration at the District Kannada Sahitya Parishat on 26 July. "They receive all facilities in the country yet they speak and conspire against the nation," he said.
"This should be condemned. They have no respect for our soldiers who protect the borders. But are sympathetic towards anti-nationals. They are more worried about violation of human rights of these anti-nationals than our own soldiers," Yatnal observed.
This is not for the first time that Yatnal has drawn himself into controversies. In June, the BJP MLA had reportedly asked local party municipal members not to help Muslims.
Yatnal was a BJP MLA from 1994 and 1999. Between 1999 and 2009, he served as the BJP MP from Vijayapura. Under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Yatnal served as minister of state for Textiles and Railways between 2002 and 2004. In 2010, Yatnal had left the BJP to join the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S). A year later, he became an independent MLC after quitting the JD(S). However, Yatnal returned to the BJP in 2013.
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