The RSS’s efforts to mediate a truce between two warring factions in Karnataka BJP appears to have had little effect. Weeks after the factions led by state BJP president B Y Vijayendra and MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal were advised to resolve their differences, the Waqf row in the state has revealed that the battle of one-upmanship between the two sides continues unabated.

When the Waqf row began last month with Yatnal holding protests in Vijayapura, the BJP formed a fact-finding team led by MP Govind Karjol to visit Honwad and compile a report. But the decision to not include Yatnal created a stir in the party ranks, forcing Vijayendra to include him.

Last Friday, Yatnal, a vocal critic of Vijayendra and his father and BJP parliamentary board member B S Yediyurappa, addressed a news conference at the residence of former minister Madhu Bangarappa along with former ministers Ramesh Jarkiholi and Arvind Limbavali. He announced they would hold a statewide campaign across Karnataka against the alleged harassment of farmers by the Waqf Board. The month-long campaign would begin on November 25, they added.

Hours later, Vijayendra issued a press release on the “Namma Bhoomi, Namma Hakku” campaign of the BJP, forming three teams tasked with touring eight to 10 districts each to compile a report on land that the Waqf Board has allegedly claimed. One team is being led by Vijayendra himself, the second one is being headed by the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R Ashok, and the third by the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy.

While Yatnal was named a member of the second team, Jarkiholi and Limbavali were included in teams one and three, respectively. Apart from district visits, protests in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s offices on November 21 or 22 and a massive protest during the Winter Session of the legislature in Belagavi are also part of the campaign.

Asked whether his colleague announcing a campaign before him embarrassed the state unit, Vijayendra said there was no cause to be ashamed. “Anyone fighting for the cause of farmers is welcome to do so,” he said, refusing to comment further on the issue.

A day later, Yatnal took a dig at the state unit’s teams alleging that Vijayendra made the announcement because his camp made the first move. The BJP president, he said, was not concerned about any issue affecting the state. “His concern is how to be CM next and loot like his father,” Yatnal told reporters in Hubballi.

The state BJP leadership, however, refused to read much into Yatnal’s announcement. BJP general secretary Preetham Gowda told reporters on Saturday that Yatnal would be part of the state BJP campaign. Sources in the party said the campaign was being planned since the controversy surfaced in the second half of October. “There were multiple meetings held over the issue. However, the announcement was delayed keeping the bypolls in mind,” said a BJP insider.

By bypassing Vijayendra and Ashok, Yatnal is making sure he gets the credit for the anti-Waqf campaign, the source said, noting that the MLA had staged an indefinite fast in Vijayapura that was called off after the visit of Jagdambika Pal, the chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

This is neither the first time the Sangh has attempted to step in to ensure peace in Karnataka BJP in recent months nor the first time Yatnal has targeted the state BJP leadership. In September, BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh and RSS leader Mukunda held a meeting to ensure a truce between the warring groups. At the time, senior leader Ramesh Jarkiholi voiced concerns about Vijayendra continuing as the state party president and called on 15-20 senior leaders to run the party unit.

Yatnal has consistently trained guns on Yediyurappa in the past few years. After Vijayendra was appointed the state BJP chief last year, Yatnal accused the former CM of blackmailing the high command to secure the post for his son. Last year, in the first meeting of the revamped Karnataka BJP team constituted by Vijayendra, the party leadership decided to approach party national president J P Nadda for action against Yatnal, saying action against him was long overdue. Some of the office-bearers wondered at the time “whether Yatnal was issuing statements to damage the party deliberately”, flagging his remark alleging irregularities worth Rs 40,000 crore in the Covid-related procurement during Yediyurappa’s tenure as CM.

In August, Yatnal and his supporters stayed away from the BJP-JD(S) coalition’s padayatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru seeking action against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged MUDA scam case. They announced another padayatra from Kudala Sangama to Ballari in protest against the alleged scam in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation but it did not get the party high command’s nod.