Former minister and senior BJP leader in Andhra Pradesh Kanna Lakshminarayana today quit the party.
He sent his resignation letter to the party's national president J P Nadda.
He also sent a copy of the letter to the party's State president Somu Veerraju.
Kanna took the decision following meeting with his supporters and followers at his residence.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that he had decided to quit the party as the party was not giving proper importance to him, and that he was not feeling comfortable in the party either.
He said that he had joined the BJP after getting attracted to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the year 2014. The conditions in the party had however changed completely after Veerraju became the party's State unit president, he claimed, and alleged that Veerraju was running the party like his own private limited company. He said that he was resigning primarily due to Veerraju's attitude.
He also claimed that the party's Rajya Sabha MP G V L Narasimha Rao was behaving in an arbitrary manner without discussing anything with the party leaders from the State.
As many as 15 other leaders of the party also resigned from it along with Kanna.
Kanna was reportedly not in favour of the appointment of Veerraju as his successor, and the distance between the two leaders had grown further after Veerraju did become that.
filed in:Andhra Pradesh, Kanna Lakshminarayana, BJP, Party Defections, Somu Veeraraju