K’taka: BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal expelled over party discipline breach
Bengaluru: Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, BJP MLA from Bijapur City in Karnataka, has been expelled from the party for six years due to his repeated violations of party discipline and controversial remarks against senior party leaders, including former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
The expulsion was announced by the BJP’s Central Disciplinary Committee in a letter issued on Wednesday.
The disciplinary action came after a review of Yatnal’s “response to the show cause notice” sent to him on February 10, 2025. The committee took “serious note” of his continuous breaches of party conduct despite earlier assurances of good behaviour.
“Despite previous warnings and assurances, you have repeatedly violated party discipline,” the committee stated in its letter. As a result, Yatnal was expelled from the BJP with immediate effect and also removed from any party positions he had previously held.
The expulsion order, signed by Om Pathak, the member secretary of the disciplinary committee, marked the culmination of ongoing internal conflicts within the BJP.
Recently, Yatnal made a crude remark about Kannada actor Ranya Rao, who was arrested in a gold smuggling case earlier this month in Bengaluru.
This led to an FIR being filed against him in the High Grounds Police Station in Bengaluru.
The MLA’s provocative comments and behaviour have caused significant embarrassment within the party.
Yatnal’s criticisms were not limited to external figures but also targeted his own party colleagues.
Just a day before he was served the expulsion notice, Yatnal questioned his potential candidacy for the position of Chief Minister or party state president, saying: “I haven’t looted anyone, haven’t badmouthed anyone, and haven’t broken anyone’s house. I haven’t engaged in anti-party activities,” a remark that appeared to indirectly target his party peers.
In response to his expulsion, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal claimed that the party had targeted him for “calling a spade, a spade”.
In a post on X, he wrote: “The party has expelled me for 6 years for speaking against dynasty politics, corruption, reforms within the party, removing one-man upmanship & request to develop North Karnataka. The party has rewarded me for ‘Calling a Spade, a Spade’.”
Yatnal also lashed out at the BJP leadership, accusing them of engaging in “dynasty politics” and claimed that certain vested interests had successfully advanced their own agenda at the cost of his position.
“Certain vested interests have played their part in furthering their agenda successfully. The decision to suspend me will not deter my fight against corruption, family politics, development of North Karnataka & Hindutva,” he added.