JOIN USBJP expels Dhananjay for anti-party activities
In a move intended at sending out a strong message to B S Yeddyurappa and his supporters, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday expelled former Union minister V Dhananjay Kumar from primary membership of the party for six years for anti-party activities.
The disciplinary action comes after Kumar, at a press conference held on Tuesday at Yeddyurappa’s Malleswaram office, strongly defended his criticism of Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar recently.
Kumar had also dared the party to take action against him by lashing out at national general secretary Ananth Kumar, State party president K S Eshwarappa and the party organising secretary Santosh.
Kumar, who has identified himself with the Yeddyurappa group, was recently stripped of his position as the State government’s Special Representative in New Delhi.
Anti-party stance
Subsequently, he had hit out at Shettar over the Cauvery river water-sharing issue, and the party State unit immediately slapped a show-cause notice on him. Kumar had been claiming that he had not received the notice and that the government had not intimated him about his removal as the Special Representative.
It is now being keenly watched how Yeddyurappa would react to the party’s move.
The former chief minister, who has announced his decision to quit the party in December, had recently warned that any step to punish his followers would prove detrimental to the government.
Dhananjay Kumar said he did not regret his expulsion. “Action has been taken for no reason. Loyal party workers are being targeted. This party will perish soon,” he said.
In his reply to the show-cause notice, Kumar had stated that the party was initiating disciplinary action against him because he supported Yeddyurappa.
“Is the party trying to send a message that nobody should protest injustice? Is this the ideology of the BJP,” he asked.
Show-cause notice
He released a copy of his reply at a press conference convened by him earlier in the day at Yeddyurappa’s office in Malleswaram.
Kumar defended his action saying the party had leaked the show-cause notice to the media much before it reached him and hence he was following the same method.
“If he (Eshwarappa) is not convinced with my reply, he is free to take disciplinary action against me,” he told reporters.
To go with BSY
Accusing the BJP leadership of targeting party loyalists, he said he would walk out of the party along with Yeddyurappa.
He charged Ananth Kumar and Eshwarappa with conspiring to unseat Yeddyurappa when he was the chief minister and accused Santosh of indulging in corrupt activities.
Kumar also sought to know why the party had not acted against Ananth Kumar when he faced allegations of misappropriating Housing and Urban Development Corporation funds, and when his name was linked to corporate lobbyist Nira Radia.