Tuesday, December 27 2005 19:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Sanjay Joshi today (Dec 27, 2005) resigned from the post in the wake of circulation of a compact disc purportedly showing him in bad light.

Joshi, a senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader deputed to BJP in 2001, met party President L K Advani here and requested to be relieved of his post in the wake of attempts by some elements to 'defame' the party.

He urged for launching an inquiry into the campaign against him and the party and wanted to be relieved of his responsibility till it is complete, party Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here on the sidelines of the BJP convention.

Advani consulted senior party leaders and decided to accept Joshi's request, Naidu said, adding he has been relieved temporarily from the post of General Secretary.

Naidu said Joshi has filed a complaint with Bhopal Police seeking inquiry into the issue to ascertain as to who was behind the slander campaign.

Giving details, he said some anonymous letter was earlier circulated seeking to defame Joshi. Later, an audio cassette was circulated. When the cassette reached Joshi, he filed a complaint with police, Naidu said, adding a probe revealed that it did not contain his voice.

Subsequently, a CD was circulated to party leaders after which Joshi filed a complaint with Bhopal police.