The Hindu : Karnataka News : Rival groups in State BJP hold meetings

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Rival groups in State BJP hold meetings

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, FEB. 22. The rift in the State Bharatiya Janata Party is no longer a secret with rival groups of the party legislators holding meetings here on Tuesday.

Supporters of the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, B.S. Yediyurappa, met at his residence and decided to thwart any moves by the supporters of the party's all India General Secretary, H.N. Ananth Kumar, to remove him (Mr. Yediyurappa) and the Leader of the Opposition in the Council, D.H. Shankaramurthy, from their posts.

One-point agenda?

Supporters of Mr. Ananth Kumar are stated to have met elsewhere and decided to go ahead to achieve their target — removal of Mr. Yediyurappa and Mr. Shankaramurthy from their posts.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ananth Kumar is scheduled to attend some engagements in his Bangalore South parliamentary constituency on Wednesday.

Resignation letters

It is also learnt that Mr. Yediyurappa and his supporters have sent in their resignation letters to the various positions they had been given in the party organisation, the appointments for which were made recently.

The letters have been sent to the all India leadership. The central party is likely to take a decision and intervene in the party affairs in the State only after the elections in Bihar, Jharkand and Haryana.

According to party sources, Mr. Ananth Kumar and Mr. Yediyurappa have drifted far apart.

The rift between them dates back to 1999 when Mr. Yediyurappa found himself defeated in the Assembly elections and Mr. Ananth Kumar retained his Bangalore South Lok Sabha seat as also his membership of the Union Cabinet.

While the State party President, Jagadish Shettar, has stood by Mr. Ananth Kumar, the former State party President, K.S. Eshwarappa, has thrown in his lot with Mr. Yediyurappa.

A senior party leader told The Hindu that if the Ananth Kumar group tried to oust Mr. Yediyurappa and Mr. Shankaramurthy from their posts, it would lead to a vertical split in the State unit.

"Our target is Ananth Kumar," he declared.

For the BJP, its problems have reached the brim with the former Chief Minister and party MP from Shimoga, S. Bangarappa, announcing his decision to join the Samajwadi Party and resign his seat in the Lok Sabha.

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