The BJP may seek disqualification of assembly membership of its MLAs ST Somashekar and A Shivaram Hebbar for anti-party activities this month itself, BJP state president BY Vijayendra told ET.
His team will send the core committee resolution recommending tough action against the two MLAs to the party high command on Monday. Since they are MLAs, the central disciplinary committee would issue show-cause notices which, he expected, to happen over the next 3-4 days.
The core committee, that met under the leadership of national general secretary Radha Mohan Das Agrawal and Vijayendra on Saturday is firm that the party must deal decisively with the two lawmakers for openly associating with the ruling Congress and working against the interests of the party.
The Delhi leadership, Vijayendra said, is determined to put the state BJP in order by quelling activities that hurt the party’s interests.
The party will seek disqualification of Somashekar (Yeshwantpur) and Hebbar (Yellapur) after giving them an opportunity to respond in 10 days. “We will write to the Assembly Speaker after the mandatory 10-day period is over for responding,” he said.
The central disciplinary committee has issued a similar show-cause notice to Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda R Patil (Yatnal) for his outbursts against BJP Parliamentary Board member BS Yediyurappa and Vijayendra. Yatnal faces the charge of repeatedly violating the party discipline, not that of anti-party activities, though.
The two lawmakers have openly defied the party, voted against the party’s official candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls and campaigned for the Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha elections, BJP state general secretary Sunil Kumar Karkala told ET.
Somashekar and Hebbar are among the 17 MLAs who switched their loyalties from the Congress in July 2019, and helped Yediyurappa overthrow the JDS-Congress coalition regime led by HD Kumaraswamy and form a BJP government. The two later served as ministers both under Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai.
The two MLAs, defying speculations, went on to contest the assembly polls last year on the BJP tickets, but their relationship with the party soured after that.
