Shrimant Patil takes U-turn, says he voluntarily joined BJP

In a U-turn, Shrimant Patil, BJP MLA said that nobody offered him money and he voluntarily joined BJP. The Congress party has urged for probe into the matter. The BJP had indeed attempted to lure Shrimant Patil using Operation Kamala, said DK Shivakumar.

Belagavi:BJP MLA Shrimant Patil who triggered a row by stating that he was offered money for switching sides from Congress has now taken a U-turn. The Congress defector denied his earlier statement and said that nobody offered him money and that he has voluntarily joined the BJP.

"Nobody offered me money. I voluntarily joined the BJP. I liked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's work and thus joined the BJP. I voluntarily went to BJP and begged for a good post if they form a new government," Patil said.

Earlier, he said, "I was offered money from the BJP to leave the Congress party. But I refused and told them to give me a good post. They gave me a minister post (in BSY government) but now they dropped me from the minister post (Bommai government). I hope I will get back the minister post during cabinet expansion." Patil made these controversial statements during an inaugural program in Kagawada of Belagavi district on September 11.

Former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Laxman Savadi commented on his remarks saying that not all 224 MLAs can be given a minister's post. "I will meet him directly and ask about his statement. We cannot give minister posts to all 224 MLAs. We can give to 34 MLAs and they have to utilize the post while they are in power," Laxman Savadi said.

Meanwhile, the Congress party also came to the fore urging for a probe into the statement. In a tweet, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar said, "Shrimant Patil has spoken the truth. The BJP had indeed attempted to lure Shrimant Patil using Operation Kamala. I congratulate him for speaking up on this matter. The ACB must immediately investigate this and take action against those who subvert."

The MLA from the Kagwad Assembly constituency changed camp in July 2019. He was also one among 16 defectors. The exodus of MLAs from Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) led to the fall of the coalition government led by erstwhile chief minister HD Kumaraswamy. He was given minister's post in the Yediyurappa government. However, after Basavaraj Bommai was sworn in as Chief Minister, he was dropped from the cabinet.