Yatnal faction at Kolar’s Kurudumale Ganesha Temple; Vijayendra loyalists at Chamundi Hill Temple, Mysuru

Bengaluru: Frustrated by the dissident activities of some State BJP leaders aligned with Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, the faction loyal to State BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra is calling for disciplinary action against Yatnal’s group.

The Yatnal faction has escalated its campaign by offering puja at the Kurudumale Ganesha Temple in Kolar, while Vijayendra’s team responded with a puja at the Chamundi Hill Temple in Mysuru this morning.

More than 50 former Legislators and prominent BJP leaders, including former Minister M.P. Renukacharya, began their temple visit from the residence of former Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu yesterday.

Before embarking on their temple run, the Vijayendra faction urged the BJP High Command to take firm action against dissident leaders like Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, Ramesh Jarkhiholi, Aravind Limbavali and others who have launched a parallel agitation concerning Waqf Board property encroachments.

The leaders demanded that the BJP Central leadership put an end to the anti-party activities of this faction. “Everyone must follow the party High Command’s decisions. However, some senior leaders are sowing confusion among party workers by orchestrating parallel protests,” they asserted.

Renukacharya and other leaders in the Vijayendra faction claimed that the Yatnal group was undermining party unity by holding parallel protests just as three key BJP teams — led by State President Vijayendra, Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly R. Ashoka and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy — are set to begin a Statewide tour from Dec. 4. This tour is aimed at rallying public opinion against the encroachments by the Waqf Board.

“To resolve confusion among party workers, the Central leadership must stop the Yatnal faction from organising parallel protests. The party must move forward under B.Y. Vijayendra’s leadership,” they concluded.