KARNATAKA NEW DELHI 02/12/2024  BJP, Mla  Basangouda Patil Yatnal addressing the media at New Delhi today.
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B.Y. Vijayedra
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The internal tussle in the Opposition BJP reached a flashpoint on Sunday with supporters of party State president B.Y. Vijayendra announcing that they would soon go to Delhi to urge the party central leadership to expel rebel leaders Basanagouda R. Patil Yatnal and Ramesh Jarkiholi from the party for their continued tirade against the former and his father and veteran leader B.S. Yediyurappa.

The development came a day after Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan indicated that an election would be held to choose the State unit president.

While Mr. Vijayendra asserted at a public programme that there was no question of him retracting from his aim or the step taken by him, his supporters and former Ministers M.P. Renukacharya and Katta Subramanya Naidu addressed an emergency press conference in which they demanded an immediate expulsion of Mr. Yatnal and Mr. Jarkiholi from the party. They said they would meet here on Saturday to hold further discussion on the issue before leaving for Delhi.

Taking serious exception to Mr. Yatnal and Mr. Jarkiholi’s remarks likening Mr. Vijayendra to a child, they said the State party chief had already made his mark in politics and proved his mettle through his organisational skills.

Launching a counter-attack on the rebels, Mr. Vijayendra’s supporters described them as Congress agents, while alleging that they were trying to create a rift in the BJP to divert public attention from the failures and fissures in the Congress government.

Taking serious exception to the recent tirade of rebels against Mr. Vijayendra, they warned that they would no longer tolerate such criticism.

On his part, Mr. Yatnal continued to attack Mr. Vijayendra and accused him of being responsible for Mr. Yediyurappa going to jail. He reiterated that they would not accept him as their leader.

Meanwhile, speculation was rife in the BJP that its State general secretary and former Minister V. Sunil Kumar wanted to be relieved of the organisational post. However, party sources confirmed that they were yet to receive any formal communication in this regard from Mr. Sunil Kumar.