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Updated September 13th, 2021 at 14:18 IST

BJP MLA Shrimant Patil makes U-turn, boasts 'asked BJP only for plum Ministerial berth'

Days after claiming that BJP offered him money to join the party, Kagwad MLA Shrimant Patil backtracked from his charge amid relentless criticism from Congress.

Reported by: Akhil Oka
Karnataka, BJP
Image: Facebook | Image:self
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Days after claiming that BJP offered him money to join the party, Kagwad MLA Shrimant Patil backtracked from his charge amid relentless criticism from Congress. Despite winning the 2018 Assembly polls on a Congress ticket, he was one of the 17 legislators who defected to BJP and was responsible for the collapse of the HD Kumaraswamy-led government in 2019. Speaking to the media on September 11, Patil alleged that the saffron party offered him money to switch sides, an offer he claimed to have turned down. 

Taking a U-turn on Monday, BJP MLA Shrimant Patil remarked, "No one had approached me either for offering me money or asking me to join the party. I myself went to them (BJP leaders). I told them that I have come to meet you to support you. They asked me why did you want to give your support and what do you want in return. I told them that I don't want anything. But if you form a government, please give me a good portfolio so that I can serve the people of Karnataka in a nice manner."

"Nobody offered me money. Some people were saying take money. I will not take money even if someone offers it. I have not taken even Rs.1 from anyone," he added on being pressed further about the inconsistencies in his statements. While he served as the Minister for Handlooms & Textiles and Minority Welfare in the BS Yediyurappa-led Cabinet, he was dropped after Basavaraj Bommai took over as the CM.

The collapse of JD(S)-Congress government

Earlier, Congress leaders latched on to Shrimant Patil's earlier statement citing it as proof of BJP's 'Operation Kamala'. While Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar demanded an ACB probe into the matter, former CM Siddaramaiah claimed that BJP paid Rs.25-35 crore each to the 17 MLAs in 2019 for changing their political loyalties. This was a reference to the political developments in the state after Kumaraswamy was sworn in as the CM on May 23, 2018, after JD(S) and Congress stitched a post-poll alliance.

The infighting within the alliance intensified after BJP swept Karnataka in the 2019 General Election by winning 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats. The crisis for the coalition government commenced on July 6, 2019, when 12 legislators submitted their resignations to the Karnataka Speaker's office. Soon, the number of rebel MLAs swelled to 17 which led to the then Governor Vajubhai Vala asking the government to prove its majority on the floor of the House. As a three-judge Supreme Court bench refused to compel the rebel MLAs to attend the Assembly proceedings, the JD(S)-Congress government lost the trust vote on July 23, 2019. 

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Published September 13th, 2021 at 14:18 IST

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