Cracking down on warring factions in the BJP's Karnataka unit, the central leadership of the party has relieved two office bearers each from the state President B S Yeddyurappa and senior leader K S Eshwarappa camps.
"In the backdrop of the recent developments in the party, Vice Presidents of state unit Bhanuprakash and Nirmal Kumar Surana, Vice President of Raitha Morcha M P Renukacharya and Spokesperson G Madhusudhan have been relieved from all responsibilities of the party with immediate effect," State BJP General Secretary N Ravi Kumar said in a statement last night.
The decision comes following a series of meetings held by BJP National General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Muralidhar Rao with party leaders, here on Saturday.
Factional feud in the party had intensified on April 27 with Eshwarappa holding a convention to "save" the organisation in defiance of warnings by Yeddyurappa's camp against it.
While Bhanuprakash and Nirmal Kumar Surana had shared the stage with Eshwarappa at the convention, Renukacharya and G Madhusudhan considered close to Yeddyurappa had made public statements targeting National Joint General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santhosh.
There was also a commotion at the venue as a few members of the audience tried to protest when MLC Bhanuprakash attacked Yeddyurappa in his address by calling the latter a 'useless leader'.
The protesters demanded Bhanuprakash to withdraw his comments and stop his tirade against Yeddyurappa. This led to an uproar at Palace grounds, after which supporters of Eshwarappa tried to push the protesters out.
As both the groups were engaged in hurling abuses at each other, a section of the gathering allegedly assaulted the protesters. Police had to intervene and take the protesters out to avoid a violent clash.
Calling the convention an "anti party activity," Yeddyurappa had also blamed Santhosh, considered to hold significant sway over party affairs in the state, for scripting it. He had reiterated that disciplinary action would be initiated against those who participated in the convention.
Resentment has been brewing within the party over Yeddyurappa's alleged "unilateral" style of functioning following the appointment of party office-bearers and over "ignoring" loyal workers and the old guard of the party.
Fissures within the Karnataka unit have come as a point of bother to the central leadership which is hoping for revival of party's fortunes in the Assembly polls early next year to see BJP's return to power.
Forming the first-ever government in the South, BJP had ruled the state from 2008 to 2013 which saw three chief ministers, factional wars and corruption charges leading to Congress's return to power.
(With PTI inputs)
