BJP MLA Yatnal says he will meet PM over flood relief

Bengaluru: Continuing his tirade against the Union Ministers and MPs from Karnataka over “failure” to get Central grants for flood-ravaged north Karnataka, BJP MLA from Bijapur Basanagouda Patil Yatnal on Thursday said he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and take up the matter.

“I will write to the Prime Minister today itself and seek an appointment with him to brief him about the flood situation, Patil told reporters in Vijayapura.

He said other leaders from North Karnataka can join him if they wish.

He asked the union ministers to get to their work and meet the prime minister. Go and do your job and meet the Prime Minister. You all are union ministers. Why are you sitting in Hubballi and Bengaluru? Go to Delhi and get Rs 10,000 crore from the Centre, Yatnal said.

Yatnal reminded the MPs that BJP did not come to power just by fluke but by the hard work of workers like him, chief minister B S Yediyurappa and former union minister Ananthkumar.

A former union minister, Yatnal has been vocal against the BJP leadership, including Union Ministers and MPs from Karnataka, for the past few days over getting Central grants to carry out relief works in North Karnataka.

On Tuesday, he had said that the Prime Minister tweeting concern for Bihar flood victims and not with those affected in Karnataka has made people feel he did not care about the state as there were no immediate polls there.

The BJP government in Karnataka has come under attack from opposition Congress and the JD(S) for its failure to get Central aid despite ‘unprecedented’ floods in August ravaged several parts of the states.

Yediyurappa on Wednesday has said the central funds would be released in a couple of days as the Prime Minister was aware of the situation.

As many as 103 taluks in 22 districts were affected due to the floods in August that left over 80 people dead, 1.5 lakh houses damaged and over five lakh hectares of farm lands completely inundated.