A major internal rift has surfaced in the Bharatiya Janata Party unit in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district, as more than 100 party office bearers and workers, including former Punjab minister and senior BJP leader Tikshan Sud, have resigned from their organisational posts after the party changed its district president within days of the earlier appointment.
Insiders further claimed that much of the anger within the party is currently directed at the The Sangathan Mahamantri (General Secretary Organization) for BJP Punjab, Manthri Srinivasulu and according to sources, a section of leaders believes the recent organisational decisions have led to growing resentment among party workers in Punjab.
According to party leaders, Satish Bawa was elected as the Hoshiarpur district president, however, around 12 to 15 days later, he was replaced by Nitin Gupta, also known as Nannu and the decision has led to strong protests from a section of BJP leaders and workers in the district.
Addressing a press conference, Tikshan Sud said he has been associated with the BJP for the past 40 years and had never witnessed such a decision before and he claimed that Satish Bawa had been elected according to the party's constitution, while the appointment of Nitin Gupta Nannu was made in an unconstitutional manner.
According to party insiders, similar dissatisfaction is being witnessed in several districts across Punjab following recent organisational decisions and senior BJP leaders in different parts of the state are also said to be unhappy with the changes, although most have not spoken about the issue publicly. Sources within the party said concerns over the recent appointments have been raised at multiple levels.
Sud questioned the party leadership over the sudden change in leadership and said if the party intended to appoint another district president, it should have done so from the beginning instead of electing one leader and removing him within a few days.
During the press conference, Sud and several other BJP leaders appealed to the party's high command to reconsider the decision regarding the district president and urged the leadership to review the matter and take appropriate action.
More than 100 BJP office bearers and workers submitted their resignations from the organisational posts they were holding and the leaders clarified that their resignations were from party positions and not from the BJP itself.
Speaking on the occasion, the leaders said they would continue working for the growth and strengthening of the BJP despite stepping down from their organisational responsibilities and maintained that their protest was against the decision related to the district president and not against the party.