Bengaluru: BJP State President B.S. Yeddyurappa yesterday appointed former Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad as the Vice-President of the State BJP unit. Prasad is a recent entrant into the party from the Congress.

Yeddyurappa also appointed M. Nagaraj, former Congress Corporator of Bengaluru, as a special invitee to the BJP’s State Executive Committee meeting to be held in Mysuru on May 6 and 7. Nagaraj, a three-time Corporator in Bengaluru, joined the BJP about six months ago.

Sreenivasa Prasad joined the BJP after he was dropped from the Siddu Cabinet in June last year and had contested unsuccessfully on a BJP ticket from Nanjangud in the recent by-polls, losing to Kalale Keshavamurthy of the Congress.

Apart from making Sreenivasa Prasad as the Vice-President, Yeddyurappa has also appointed Prasad’s confidantes K.R. Mohan Kumar and C. Basavegowda as special invitees for the BJP Executive Committee meeting.

The appointment of Nagaraj, a Kuruba as a special invitee, has raised a few eyebrows as the move comes amid Yeddyurappa’s ongoing tussle with Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa, who also belongs to the Kuruba community.

The confrontation between Eshwarappa and Yeddyurappa is expected to worsen with the announcement of the appointments.

Senior party leaders said that the appointments illustrated how Yeddyurappa was taking unilateral decisions.

The move is also seen as an assertion by Yeddyurappa that he has full powers to choose his team of office-bearers. Party observers contend that it is also a message that those close to Yeddyurappa will be rewarded, besides being a move to consolidate Dalit votes as Prasad belongs to SC community.

Naveen Chilal has been appointed President of the Bengaluru unit BJP’s Weaver’s Cell and T.H. Srinivasaiah has been appointed as President of the Bengaluru unit of the party’s Education Cell.