B R Patil: Socialist & a stickler for ethics through thick and thin of politics

Bengaluru: In the seminal 1983 election that gave Karnataka its first non-Congress government, academic B B Patil Okaly was the Congress’ candidate from the Aland constituency in Kalaburagi district. 

Okaly’s opponent was ironically his student to whom he taught political science for four years. 

The student was 34-year-old Bhojaraj Ramachandra Patil, handpicked by socialist leader S R Bommai to become the Janata Party’s candidate. Bhojaraj defeated his teacher, kickstarting a career that has lasted over four decades. 

Now 75, B R Patil was this week’s newsmaker after he charged his own government with bribery in the allocation of public housing units. This was not the first time he spoke out against his own party’s government. 

Straight-forward

“Patil is a straight-forward politician who never indulged in adjustment politics,” Primary Land Development Bank director Sharanabasappa Wage, who has known him for over three decades, says. 

Those who know Patil, always seen wearing the Gandhi cap, swear by his socialist background.

In fact, this is where Patil and his close friend Chief Minister Siddaramaiah share similarities. Both drew inspiration from socialist leaders Ram Manohar Lohia and M D Nanjundaswamy. Both began their political careers by contesting the taluk board elections in 1978. They became MLAs for the first time in 1983. 

Patil was two years old when his father Ramachandrappa, a freedom fighter, died. It was his mother Gangabai who raised him. 

Fierce prohibitionist

A fierce prohibitionist, Patil is known to have formed a gang in high school to go after bootleggers. To this day, he is firm on banning alcohol and is a part of Medha Patkar’s ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’ campaign. 

After completing his BA degree in 1971-72, Patil joined the Seth Shankarlal Lahoti Law College in Kalaburagi for LLB, where he became president of the students’ union.

Around the end of his law course, he had been drawn towards the JP movement and went to jail for six months during Emergency. 

Bommai’s protege

If not for Bommai’s insistence to enter politics, Patil would have taken up a Hindi-teaching job at Akkalkot in Maharashtra. After winning his first election, Patil was made president of the Janata Party’s youth wing. 

A four-time MLA and once MLC (including deputy chairperson of the Legislative Council), Patil has switched parties over the years: Janata Party, Janata Dal, JD(U), JD(S), Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) and Congress. 

In 2013, Patil joined B S Yediyurappa’s breakaway KJP and won the election. In 2014, Patil opposed Yediyurappa’s decision to merge KJP with the BJP. During the Lok Sabha polls that year, Patil openly supported Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Dharam Singh. 

‘Separate Lingayat’ faith campaign 

In the run-up to the 2018 Assembly polls, Patil supported the ‘separate Lingayat religion’ campaign. He lost that election as a Congress candidate. 

Despite his proximity to Siddaramaiah, Patil has not become a minister. It is widely believed that this is the grouse he is venting by attacking his own party government, a fact which he has denied. It is said that Patil feels sidelined by Congress leaders in the Kalyana Karnataka region. 

In July 2023, soon after Congress came to power, Patil threatened to resign at a legislature party meeting citing “self-respect” and slamming “arrogant” ministers.

Resignation threat 

In November 2023, Patil again threatened to resign over allegations that he entrusted works to the notorious Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd (KRIDL), when he was MLA between 2013 and 2018. 

Patil was appointed as the CM’s policy & planning advisor in December 2023.

However, in February 2025, he suddenly resigned from that post in what was seen as an expression of disgruntlement. But weeks later, he was appointed as deputy chairperson of the Karnataka State Policy & Planning Commission. 

The Aland MLA has often come under attack from his own party colleagues.

“He has adhered to his ideology irrespective of the party he is in. That’s why he’s unfazed by criticism about his candid behaviour,” retired teacher Prabhakar Salgare says. 

Outside politics, he runs the Samata Lok Shikshan Samiti that provides education to 5,000 students. He listens to Hindustani music. 

Having decided not to contest the next election, he is likely to pass on the baton to his nephew Ramachandra Patil. 

(With inputs from Vittal Shastri in Kalaburagi)