A BJP lawmaker and former Union Minister from Karnataka courted a major controversy by saying he would shoot intellectuals and liberals if he becomes Home Minister. BJP MlA from Vijayapura Basangouda Patil Yatnal, while addressing a ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’ function in his Assembly constituency on Thursday, said he would have ordered the police to shoot all intellectuals.
“These people (intellectuals) live in this county and use all the facilities for which we pay tax. Then they raise slogans against the Indian Army. Our country faces grave danger from intellectuals and seculars than anyone else,” he said.
“If I become the Home Minister, then I will order to shoot all of them," he said to cheering crowd.
Yatnal a close confidant of state BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa is known for creating controversy and this time it was beyond any limits. His statement came under severe criticism and Congress was quick to condemn such statement from a former Union Minister.
In June, a video of the former Union Minister surfaced on social media in which he was seen instructing corporators to work only for Hindus who have voted for him. "I had called all corporators and have told them that they should work for Hindus, and not Muslims, who have voted for me in Bijapur. " — Basanagouda Patil Yatnal had allegedly said.
Yatnal was a BJP MP from Bijapur between 1999 and 2009. In 2010, he quit the BJP to join the Janata Dal (Secular) and then joined the BJP again in 2013. Yatnal served as the Union Minister of State in the Vajpayee Government.
State congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, said that BJP leaders in the nation are indulging in this kind of provocative and violent speeches to create disharmony and hatred in society.
This is the mindset of the BJP. They believe in violence and creating un rest to propagate their ideology. I condemn the statement. I blame Modi Government which is giving full support to these elements,“ Gundu Rao said.
The coalition partner JD(S) also condemned Yatnal for his statement and asked the Government to take action against him. However the local BJP leaders refused to drawn into the controversy.
He was Minister of State for Textiles and Railways in the AB Vajpayee Government between 2002 and 2004.
In 2010 he had quit the BJP and joined JD(S) after a public spat with the party’s State leaders. He quit the JD(S) a year later and became an independent MlC. He is known for making highly inflammatory speeches.