Bangalore, Jan 30: Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) president B.S. Yeddyurappa late Tuesday expelled 'founder' president Prasanna Kumar from the primary membership of the regional party, party officials said.
"The party's president (Yeddyurappa) has expelled Kumar from the party for indulging in anti-party activities and misleading the media that he (Kumar), as KJP's founder president, had the power to remove Yeddyurappa from the party's top post and primary membership," party general secretary Rajendra Gokhle told IANS here.
The former BJP chief minister (Yeddyurappa) acted against Prasanna Kumar after the Election Commission had rejected Jan 15 the latter's claim to be the party's founder president, as there was no provision for such a post in the party's (KJP) constitution.
"In the constitution of the Karnataka Janatha Paksha, there is no provision for the post of 'main founder president' or for nominating a 'main founder president, as mentioned in your letter," poll panel secretary Varinder Kumar wrote to Prasanna Kumar Jan 15 in response to his Jan 4 letter.
Expelling Prasanna Kumar from the party's membership, Yeddyurappa said he (Kumar) had written to the poll panel Jan 17 that he had voluntarily resigned from the party's president post Nov 9, 2012 and had accepted to be the party's one of the state vice-presidents.
Prasanna Kumar had also informed the poll panel that Yeddyurappa was elected as the party's new president at a meeting of its executive early December, and endorsed by the party's general body Dec 11.
"I totally accept the fact of resignation as the party's state president and election of Yeddyurappa as the new president from Dec 9 and I have no dispute in this regard," Yeddyurappa said, citing the letter Kumar wrote to the poll panel.
Yeddyurappa resigned Nov 30 from the BJP and his Shikaripura assembly segment in Shimoga district, about 280 km from Bangalore, and held a massive politically rally at Haveri Dec 9 to formally joint the KJP with hundreds of followers.
