A file photo of BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal at the Legislative Assembly in Bengaluru.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
1. BJP expels MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal for six years over ‘anti-party’ remarks
BJP MLA from Bijapur City Basangouda Patil Yatnal has been expelled from the party for six years for his statements against the party and senior leader B.S. Yediyurappa. In a letter dated March 26, 2025, the party’s Central Disciplinary Committee said it had considered his response to the show-caause notice sent to him on February 10, 2025, “and has taken serious note of the repeated violations of party discipline.”
Despite assurances of good behaviour in response to earlier show-cause notices, the committee found that he had not kept his word. It had decided, therefore, to expel him for a period of six years “with immediate effect” from the primary membership of the party. The letter, signed by Member Secretary of the committee Om Pathak, further stated that Mr. Yatnal is also stripped of any party position he may have held until now.
2. D.K. Shivakumar has no role in honey-trap cases, claims Congress MLC Yathindra Siddaramaiah
Congress MLC Yathindra Siddaramaiah claimed that Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar has no role in the alleged cases of honey-trapping. Mr. Yathindra, who is also the son of CM Siddaramaiah, sought to make it clear that neither Cooperation Minister K.N. Rajanna, who raised the issue in the recent legislature session, nor any Congress leader had named any person behind the honey-trapping cases.
When it was brought his notice that there is speculation that MLAs supporting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had been targeted in the honey-trapping instances, Mr. Yathindra referred to the reported attempts on even BJP MLAs and wondered if it meant that the saffron party legislators too are backing Mr. Siddaramaiah.
2. Karnataka Governor returns Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill seeking clarifications
In a setback to the Congress government, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has returned the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024, which was passed by the State legislature during the just-concluded budget session, seeking some clarifications. The Bill proposes to split Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike into a maximum of seven city corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Area.
Speaking at a press conference in Bengaluru on March 26, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs H. K. Patil said the Governor has returned the Bill seeking some clarifications. Along with a note on clarifications, the Bill would despatched to Raj Bhavan again seeking the assent of the Governor, Mr Patil said.
3. Manipal Foundation donates 23 portable, battery-powered refrigeration devices to Karnataka Health Dept
The Manipal Foundation has donated 23 new portable, battery-operated refrigeration devices, which will help the Karnataka Health Department maintain necessary cooling when vaccines are transported from primary health centres to distant sub health centres. Each of the new devices weighs 6.4 kg and costs ₹2 lakh. The State Government permitted a trial of this new device.
The new devices will replace the rectangular, ice-packed, white carriers currently in use. District Health and Family Welfare Officer H.R. Thmmaiah said the health workers have found it difficult to maintain the required cooling in the rectangular boxes. An ICMR report says 50% of vaccines get wasted because of absence of required cooling during transportation.
5. Srinivas College management says it had no intention to encroach on government land at Mukka near Mangaluru
A. Shama Rao Foundation, that runs Srinivas College at Mukka near Mangaluru, has said it had no intention of encroaching on government land or water body adjacent to the college campus in response to an FIR filed by the Karnataka Revenue Department.
The foundation attributed the spillover of the mud-filling into the adjacent government land to an oversight by the building contractor. It claimed to have learned of the actual boundary only after revenue officials identified the demarcation using the Dishank app.
Published – March 26, 2025 06:23 pm IST
