The Hindu : National : Kesrinath Tripathi to take over from Katiyar

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Monday, Jul 19, 2004

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National

Kesrinath Tripathi to take over from Katiyar

By J.P. Shukla

LUCKNOW, JULY 18 .The Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party president, Vinay Katiyar, today submitted his resignation in compliance with the directive of the BJP high command, to pave the way for the appointment of another leader to give the organisation a new look in the aftermath of the party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

Mr. Katiyar told newspersons here that he had sent his resignation letter to the party president, Venkaiah Naidu, in New Delhi. The former Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker, Kesrinath Tripathi, is likely to succeed Mr. Katiyar. The ouster of Mr. Katiyar follows an orchestrated campaign by his rivals in the State unit, who held him responsible for the party's humiliating defeat in the polls. Mr. Katiyar had indicated that he would not submit meekly to the campaign and that he would present his case after he was relieved from the party post.

Refusing to accept that he was responsible for the party's poor performance in the elections, Mr. Katiyar said he failed to understand why he had been asked to resign. Even a criminal was given a chance to explain his case before his conviction, but he was never allowed to give an explanation , he said.

The campaign had been managed by an election committee headed by the former State party chief, Kalraj Mishra, he added.

He pointed out that the BJP's percentage of votes had declined from 32 per cent to 20 per cent during the Assembly elections in 2002 and during the recent Lok Sabha poll it had increased to 22 per cent.

It was astonishing that the responsibility for the party's defeat during the Assembly elections was not placed on the leadership, while he was being squarely blamed for the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

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