Chandigarh: The Haryana BJP has expelled one of its senior leaders from Karnal, Chander Parkash Kathuria, for 6 years for “alleged immoral activities”.
According to a letter issued by state BJP Chief Subhash Barala last Sunday, Kathuria was expelled from the primary membership of the BJP for six years. No reason was, however, mentioned in the letter for the expulsion.
But Karnal district BJP chief Jagmohan Anand told ThePrint: “Kathuria has been expelled for alleged immoral activities, which dealt a blow to the BJP’s image in the state.”
The expulsion comes two days after a video surfaced on social media in which Kathuria was seen falling on the ground while descending from the balcony of a second-floor flat in Chandigarh with the help of a piece of cloth.
Kathuria fractured his leg in the fall, sources in the BJP said, adding that the 51-year-old politician had gone to meet a friend at the flat.
After falling on the ground, Kathuria couldn’t get up for a while. He was later shifted to a hospital, sources said.
When ThePrint called the politician’s office staff, he said Kathuria is unavailable for comment.
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No police complaint so far
Surinder Singh, station house officer of Sector 49 police station, said no complaint has been received so far against Kathuria.
“We will take action only when there is a written complaint. From what transpired on that particular day (Friday), no offence is made. It was not that Mr Kathuria was trying to jump from the balcony. He chose an alternative way to come down from the flat,” he told ThePrint.
Kathuria, a special invitee to the state executive committee of the BJP, was the former district chief of the BJP in Karnal, which is Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s home constituency. He had unsuccessfully fought the 2009 assembly elections from Karnal.
He was a serious contender for the Karnal assembly seat in 2014, but Khattar was chosen over him. As a result, he and the chief minister remained at loggerheads before Kathuria was finally taken in as a special invitee to the state executive committee of the BJP.
He was also made the chairman of Sugarfed, a state government cooperative handling sugar mills.
Last year, he was among those in the race for the Lok Sabha ticket from Karnal, but the ticket was finally given to Sanjay Bhatia.
Before joining the BJP, Kathuria was considered to be a close aide of former Congress chief minister Bansi Lal.
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