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BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday intensified his attack against the national leaders of the party, especially his long-time bete noire and BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar, in an attempt to goad the high command to act.

He also announced his decision to boycott the BJP national executive meeting scheduled for 24 and 25 of this month in Mumbai to protest, what he termed as, “indecision” on the part of the party high command.

Addressing a press conference at his Malleswaram office on Saturday, the former chief minister directly accused Ananth Kumar of spiking the growth of several party leaders using “his expert knowledge in hatching conspiracies”.

“His (Ananth Kumar) one-point programme is to stall leaders from coming to limelight… Senior leaders like Jaswanth Singh and Arun Shourie were sidelined. Though party leaders Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari are capable of taking decisions, he has not been allowing them. He is misguiding them… He is not allowing L K Advani to function independently. I do not know why they are yielding to him,” he said.

He went on to add that apart from Karnataka, party leaders in Rajasthan and Gujarat were also upset with decisions the being taken by the high command. “Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi too is hurt with the party as he is being sidelined. After Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the party has not been able to find an alternative leader. Leaders like Ananth Kumar should be cut to size to find solutions to all problems in the party. Otherwise, I do not see any future for the party,” he claimed.

The State party was planning to send either Nirmala Sitharaman or Montek Singh Ahluwalia to Rajya Sabha from the State. But Ananth Kumar ensured that a former IAS officer was elected. Besides, he has been dominating over MPs from Karnataka. Senior members like D B Chandre Gowda, Suresh Angadi and G S Basavaraju are not allowed to speak in Parliament, he said.

Yeddyurappa further alleged that Kumar has formed coterie of his own and kept the entire party in his firm grip. “The party should take an appropriate decision now. Otherwise there is no point in regretting in future,” he advised.

Yeddyurappa also blamed the party high command for not being able to resolve the long-drawn crisis in the State. “The party leaders are responsible for what I am facing today. I am making this statement because I am deeply hurt,” he said.

The Lingayat leader’s tongue-lashing, second in less than a week, has come as a major embarrassment to the party high command, especially when BJP Karnataka in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan was in Bangalore to meet various factions of the party. By attacking the party, Yeddyurappa is trying to send a strong message saying he will not only severe ties with the party, but is also capable of causing damage to it if he is continued to be sidelined.

That Yeddyurappa is in two minds about leaving the party became evident when he sent a team of his loyalists led by Basavaraj Bommai to meet Pradhan and seek “justice”. He also seems jittery as he is gradually losing support in the party ever since the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe against him.

He, however, denied speculations that he was planning to quit the party to join the Congress. “It is a rumor. Neither am I joining any other party nor will I float a party. I will tour the State and take appropriate decision at an appropriate time,” he said.