Supporters of Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli, BJP MLA, ransacked the party office in Bidar on Friday, after the party high command decided not to nominate his son, Suryakant Nagamarapalli, as the Lok Sabha candidate from Bidar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party announced on Thursday that Bhagwant Khuba, party district unit vice-president would be given ticket.
Nearly 100 people entered the party office and ransacked it. They shouted slogans against BJP senior leaders Rajnath Singh and Ananth Kumar and accused the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa of betraying the trust that the Nagamarapallis had placed in him.
They accused Mr. Yeddyurappa of pushing for the candidature of G.S Basavaraj and Shobha Karandlaje, but neglecting his supporters in Hyderabad Karnataka region.
They alleged that the BJP leaders had fielded a powerless candidate against Congress nominee N. Dharam Singh. Some leaders staged a rasta roko on the Bidar-Srirangapatna highway, where the party office is located.
‘Issue will be resolved’
Bangalore Special Correspondent reports:
The BJP State leadership sought to play down the episode. According to sources, the party high command had made it clear that they wanted Mr. Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli to contest. But he wanted ticket for his son, and the party felt that the father had a better image than his son. When the issue dragged on, a few leaders in the party’s State core committee felt it would be better to go with Mr. Suryakant’s nomination. But the central leadership said it would be better to scout for a person from its local organisation.
The party then selected Mr. Khuba. “We had expected this kind of trouble and we are confident of resolving the issue,” sources said.
