Vijay Mallya removed as Working President of Janata Party
New Delhi, Jun 8 (PTI) : Liquor baron Vijay Mallya was on Tuesday removed from the post of Working President of Janata Party after he filed nomination for Rajya Sabha elections with the support of JD(S).
Subramanian Swamy, president of Janata Party, said in a statement that the Karnataka state unit has also been dissolved.
"By the authority vested in me under the Janata Party Constitution, I am removing Mallya from the post of Working President of Janata Party. He was appointed ad-hoc in 2002 to this post," Swamy said.
He said Mallya has been a "sleeping non-working" office-bearer since 2004 and his accepting the support of JD(S) for the Rajya Sabha candidacy disqualifies him from being a member of Janata Party.
"The Central Parliamentary Board will meet in Chennai on June 14 and will consider a resolution to remove Mallya from the primary membership of the party," Swamy said.
"The Karnataka state unit of the Janata party stands dissolved. The state Organising Secretary Natraj will till further notice act as convenor of the state committee and discharge the duties of State President," Swamy said in a statement in Chennai.
In a surprise move, Mallya had on Monday filed his nomination to the Rajya Sabha as an independent backed by JD(S) which has 27 members in the state Assembly.
Stating that there was nothing dramatic in his candidature, Mallya had said he was supported by JDS before when he first became a Rajya Sabha member. Mallya needs to garner support of 20 more MLAs for his victory in the first round.