Tamil Nadu state BJP has on Friday expelled three leaders from the party after they voiced against senior party leader H Raja. The development has come days after several functionaries in Raja's home turf of Karaikudi district had criticized and submitted their resignation to protest against Raja for his highhandedness. The expulsion had given temporary relief to Raja while it had stirred outrage from the cadres. 

These three expelled leaders belong to the Karaikudi district. According to reports, party general secretary Karu Nagarajan had expelled Kunnakudi zonal president N Prabhu, Karaikudi zonal president K Chandran, and Sakkottai South zonal president K Balamurugan. In a statement, the party said that all three were removed from the primary membership. 

It has further said that they had violated the party rules and indulged in activities that brought disrepute to the party. Nagarajan has instructed to detach their contacts with the three expelled leaders and the general secretary has said that the decision for firing them had been taken with the consensus of Tamil Nadu State BJP President L Murugan. 

The reports say that several functionaries in the Karaikudi district had protested against Raja and many had submitted their resignation to the party leadership. Raja had contested in the recently-held state assembly polls in BJP ticket in the Karaikudi constituency. However, he had lost the elections to the Congress candidate. Raja's stronghold in his home district has begun to diminish after his defeat. 

Late last month, several BJP members in the Sivaganga district have threatened to resign from the party over the mismanagement of funds and the party's operations by H Raja. BJP's Sivaganga district president Selvaraj has sent his resignation to the state leadership. It has been reported that Raja's supporters had slammed Selvaraj and held him responsible for the party's defeat in the district. Following Selvaraj, several leaders had resigned from the party. 

Most of the members in the district had flayed Raja for his election defeat. The cadres had earlier said that resignations will continue and they will keep voicing against H Raja. The intra-party furore in Sivaganga was unprecedented in the BJP and the back-to-back resignations had shocked the party. The cadres express hope that the state leadership will take action against H Raja. The cadres further say that the BJP had given a huge amount for elections but H Raja hasn't spent the money for the party. 

They further claim that H Raja has been constructing a new house in Subramaniapuram at a budget of Rs 4 crore and he is also constructing a farmhouse. They question the source of the money and they had moved their complaints against H Raja to the state leadership. The functionaries had urged the leadership to take strict action against Raja and stop further erosion of the party in the Sivaganga district. However, the party has now taken action against three leaders and expelled them for voicing against H Raja.