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Would have had ‘intellectuals, secular thinkers’ shot dead if I was home minister: BJP MLA 

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Basanagouda Patil Yatnal is known for making such controversial remarks. He had earlier said Muslims in his constituency should not be helped.

Bengaluru: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Karnataka has stoked controversy after saying he would have had “secular thinkers” and “intellectuals” shot dead if he was the country’s home minister.

Speaking at a Kargil Vijay Diwas event in Vijayapura, a constituency he represents, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal Thursday branded “intellectuals” and “secular thinkers” as “anti-nationals”.

“Such people (intellectuals) live in our country and use all the facilities provided. We are the ones who pay taxes for them. Then when the time comes, they raise slogans against the Indian Army. Today, our country faces grave danger from intellectuals and secular thinkers more than anyone else. If I was the home minister, I would have issued orders to shoot them,” Patil said.

This, however, isn’t the first time that Patil has been in the eye of a storm for his remarks. Just after the assembly elections in May, Patil had told a group of members from the local municipal body in Vijayapura that they need not help Muslims as they did not vote for him.

State BJP unit disowns statement, Opposition slams MLA

The state BJP unit has distanced itself from Patil’s statement. Party spokesperson S. Prakash refused to comment on the controversy on the grounds that the “party does not subscribe to his (Patil’s) views, and that it was his personal viewpoint”.

Patil, who had served as the minister of state for textiles and railways in the Vajpayee government, between 2002 and 2004, received flak on social media for his comments.

The ruling Congress has slammed the statement and urged Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to take action.

“I think Patil’s language is the language that the BJP speaks and represents. What he has said is provocative and can incite violence. Such statements are encouraged by the BJP, and it looks like they (BJP) are justifying the killings of Gauri (Lankesh), (Govind) Pansare and (Narendra) Dabholkar. I have communicated to home minister Dr Parameshwara that immediate action needs to be taken,” said Dinesh Gundu Rao, the state Congress president.

Patil has not always been a BJP man. He left the party and joined the Janata Dal (Secular) in 2010. In 2013, he did a ‘Ghar Wapsi’ to the BJP and was elected from Vijayapura in North Karnataka this year.

Several attempts to contact Patil went unanswered.

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