Karnataka politician KS Eshwarappa is expelled from the BJP for six years after running as an independent in the legislative assembly elections

Rebel politician K S Eshwarappa was expelled by the BJP on Monday and banned for six years for going against party rules and running as an independent in the Lok Sabha elections.

Entering the election fight, the former deputy chief minister and state unit president of the party has accused his father, senior party leader B S Yediyurappa, and state BJP president B Y Vijayendra of denying his son K E Kantesh’s ticket to run from Haveri.

The BJP has selected former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai for the Haveri seat, while B Y Raghavendra, an MP and brother of Vijayendra, as the party’s nominee from Shimoga.

“You are running as a dissident candidate from the Shimoga Lok Sabha seat against the party’s instructions, which is embarrassing for the party. Lingaraj Patil, the head of the state disciplinary committee, said in the expulsion ruling that “this is a violation of party discipline.”

It continued, “so, you have been relieved from all the responsibilities and have been expelled from the party for six years, with immediate effect.”

The 75-year-old Eshwarappa had resisted attempts by party officials to appease him by remaining firm in his desire to run for office. In fact, he had submitted his candidacy as an independent.

On May 7, the party decided to remove the previous Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council. This was the last day to withdraw one’s candidacy for the Karnataka Lok Sabha elections.

Many people credit Eshwarappa, Yediyurappa, and the late H N Ananth Kumar for creating the BJP in Karnataka from the ground up.

Asserting that the state’s BJP president, Eshwarappa, has repeatedly accused Yediyurappa of marginalizing individuals who supported Hindutva, such as Pratap Simha, Nalin Kumar Kateel, C T Ravi, and D V Sadananda Gowda, and that the party is under the control of Yediyurappa and his family, who have one son serving as an MP and another as an MLA.

But he has made it clear that he does not oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He had informed the party’s central leadership before of the Assembly elections last year that he wanted to step out from electoral politics and urged that it not contemplate fielding him from any district.

Then, following the party’s directive, Modi called Eshwarappa and chatted with him via video call, thanking him for his decision to step out from electoral politics.