Bengaluru, September 23, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Congress MLA Yashwantharayagowda Patil on Wednesday submitted his resignation from the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in protest against the exclusion of Indi and Chadachan taluks in Vijayapura district from the state’s list of drought-affected areas.
Patil submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker G.S. Patil and also informed Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar about his decision. The move triggered a political uproar in the Assembly, with BJP legislators demanding clarity on the resignation. Efforts were reportedly underway from the Chief Minister’s Office to persuade Patil to withdraw it.
Patil said he had repeatedly urged the government to include Indi and Chadachan in the drought-hit list but his requests had not been considered. Expressing disappointment, he said the concerns and sentiments of the people he represented were no longer receiving adequate importance.
The resignation comes amid dissatisfaction among some Congress legislators over the government’s handling of drought declarations. Patil had previously expressed discontent after being denied a ministerial berth during a Cabinet expansion, saying he had been given assurances regarding a ministerial position. Following intervention by Shivakumar and senior Congress leaders, he had withdrawn his earlier resignation and continued as MLA.
Karnataka has so far declared 188 taluks drought-affected in four phases under drought-declaration guidelines framed by the Centre in 2020. The first phase covered 101 taluks, followed by 23 in the second, 53 in the third and 11 in the fourth.
The issue led to heated exchanges in the Assembly. Former Home Minister and BJP MLA Araga Jnanendra sought clarification from the Speaker regarding Patil’s resignation. An exchange also took place between Jnanendra and Health Minister U.T. Khader, after Jnanendra questioned Khader’s intervention when the resignation had been submitted to the Speaker.
Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka said the BJP had a copy of Patil’s resignation letter and questioned whether it had been accepted. Referring to an earlier statement by Shivakumar that resignations submitted by legislators would be accepted, Ashoka challenged the government to accept Patil’s resignation if it stood by that position.
Shivakumar said there was no reason for the BJP to panic and maintained that Patil’s resignation was linked to concerns raised by people in his constituency. He said farmers there had borrowed money and invested in cultivation, putting Patil under pressure to seek relief for them.
The Chief Minister also said drought declarations had to follow established guidelines and could not be made arbitrarily. He said he had spoken to Patil and attempted to pacify him, adding that the MLA’s resignation was related to the livelihood concerns of people in his constituency.
Shivakumar also said senior leaders, including H.K. Patil, were facing pressure over the drought situation and described such pressure on Yashwantharayagowda Patil as understandable given the circumstances in his constituency.
Later, Speaker G.S. Patil clarified that he had not accepted the resignation. He said the resignation did not comply with the prescribed rules and therefore had not been accepted.
The episode has added to the debate within the ruling Congress over the government’s drought response, with the exclusion of Indi and Chadachan from the drought-hit list becoming a major political issue in the Assembly.
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