A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party expelled him, Karnataka MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said on Thursday that infighting and “adjustment politics” will drag the party to a new low.

Patil, who was expelled for repeated instances of alleged party indiscipline, said that BJP leaders with “vested interests who rampantly indulged in adjustment politics” had weakened the party in the state. This led to its defeat in the “impregnable fortress[es]” such as the Kalaburagi (Gulbarga), Koppal, Raichur, Bellary, Chikkodi constituencies, added the legislator.

This was an apparent reference to the losses the party faced in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Vijayapura MLA said on social media that while such leaders had not faced disciplinary action, others who wanted to reform the party “by wanting to end the one man upmanship and family-centred politics” were suspended or given notices.

The BJP expelled Patil for six years with immediate effect on Wednesday after he responded to a show-cause notice.

He has been a vocal critic of former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and his son, BY Vijayendra, who is the current chief of the BJP’s Karnataka unit.

On Thursday, Patil alleged that two BJP legislators who have “openly rebelled against the party and seen supporting” the Congress had been either ignored or were sent a notice only after pressure from party workers.

The BJP leadership has “completely ignored” the party’s general election defeat and weakening in the Kalyana-Karnataka region, also known as Hyderabad-Karnataka, claimed Patil.

He added: “The high command is clueless about the defeat of the party in the North Karnataka region where BJP has a very strong voter base, particularly Panchamasali Lingayats, it has also ignored the adjustment politics resulting in the defeat of BJP in the bye-polls in Shiggaon.”

The seat was held by former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, but Congress' Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan clinched it in the bye-poll that took place in November.

The Hindutva party lost the bye-poll because of its failure to aggressively counter the Congress government’s policies, Patil said, claiming that this factor had been “conveniently ignored by the high command”.

Patil alleged that the BJP’s loss in the Davanagere Lok Sabha constituency was “classic of how adjustment politics can wreak havoc and weaken” the party.

Congress’ Prabha Mallikarjun had defeated Gayatri Siddeshwara in the seat.

The expelled MLA said that some Karnataka BJP leaders “masquerading as carriers of the party legacy will only cause the party’s downfall in the days to come”.

Patil further listed political campaigns and protests he had launched against the state government. “I spent my resources and engaged my legal team to fight the withdrawal of CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] consent in the disproportionate assets case about deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar without expecting any political benefits,” the MLA added.

Patil alleged that the development works he had undertaken were “conveniently ignored” by the BJP, and had instead succumbed to pressure from “certain vested interests to remove me from the party as I was a thorn in their flesh”.

“The infighting, undercurrents and adjustment politics will take the party to a new low in Karnataka unless reforms are undertaken,” Patil said. “The urgency in taking disciplinary action against senior leaders despite giving in detailed response to the notices can [be] seen as a case of ‘marry in haste, repent at leisure’.”

On Wednesday too, Patil alleged that his expulsion was motivated by his criticism of “dynasty politics, corruption, reforms within the party”.