BENGALURU: On a firefighting mission, BJP national general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Muralidhar Rao arrived in the city on Saturday evening to find an immediate resolution to the growing differences between state BJP president BS Yeddyurappa and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council KS Eshwarappa. Rao immediately huddled into consultations with party leaders to seek opinions on the grievances of the two top leaders of the state BJP unit.
Eshwarappa who was in Shivamogga made haste to Bengaluru by evening, but he was not party to the consultations and neither did Yeddyurappa come to the party office.
Following discussions, state party vice presidents Bhanuprakash and Nirmal Kumar Surana, Raitha Morcha Vice President Renukacharaya and party spokesperson G Madhusudhan have been relieved of all their responsibilities with immediate effect.
The order issued by party General Secretary N Ravi Kumar said the decision was taken in view of the recent events in the party. No replacements have been announced yet. Bhanuprakash had shared the dais with Eshwarappa during the recent dissidents’ rally.
Several members, who met Rao, are said to have expressed their frustration about the public outbursts between the two damaging the image of the party.
Some also expressed concern over the loose talk and open rebellion by Eshwarappa, which they said had to curbed either by bringing him under control or removing him from the party.
After the meeting, Yeddyurappa and Muralidhar Rao arrived in separate flights and Yeddyurappa headed straight for his residence. He was scheduled to leave for Shivamogga later in the night.
Digvijaya out, Venugopal in as Cong in-charge of state
Kerala MP K C Venugopal has been appointed as the new AICC General Secretary in charge of Karnataka, by the Congress high command on Saturday. With this, Digvijaya Singh has been divested of his charge of Karnataka and Goa, but still retains charge of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Singh’s removal was expected after the debacle in Goa, where Congress failed to form the government despite winning more seats than the BJP. Other members who have been assigned to look after Karnataka are AICC Secretaries Manickam Tagore, P C Vishnunadh, Madhu Yashki Goud and Sake Saijananth for Karnataka. A Chellakumar has been appointed in charge of Goa affairs along with Secretary Amit Deshmukh.