Daijiworld Media Network - Bagalkot (SP)

Bagalkot, Aug 2: BJP MLA from Vijayapura, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, sprang a surprise on by claiming that the entire state will be following him shortly. He gave this subtle response when the media persons wanted to know whether he has become a loner in the BJP.

"I will march ahead singing Ekla Chalo (I will go alone on my path). In course of time, the people of Karnataka will follow me on my path. You just wait and watch this happening soon. In the past, when his 13-day union government crashed, Vajpayee had made this announcement. When all the opposition parties made a mockery of Vajpayee for being a loner without the support of anyone. Vajpayee said this, which is the beginning of a patriotic poem by Rabindranath Tagore. People will follow me and you will watch this happening," he declared.

To a statement made by Dingaleshwara Swamiji that Yatnal should be admitted into a mental hospital, Yatnal said that the people will decide who should be admitted there. People should confine themselves to within their respective jurisdictions, he commented. "I am a politician and I indulge in politics. He is in religious sector and should do that work. Swamijis should not support thieves and cheaters. Those wearing the saffron robes should protest when Love Jihad, cow slaughter, attack on Hindutva etc happen. The Math heads should never support a single person. If they forget the principle of equanimity, they will have to go to a mental hospital," Yatnal warned.

He said that the high command should decide whether the post of deputy chief minister should be created or not. He felt that the government is under compulsion to create these posts to set right cast-wise distribution imbalance. He said that in many places, the BJP has not been following the practice of having deputy chief ministers in the cabinets. "This time however, the high command has not yet said what is in its mind. I am sure they will make a wise decision," he said.