The tug-of-war between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his defiant younger brother Nara Ramamurthy Naidu (50) took a serious turn on Tuesday night with the Telugu Desam Party expelling 10 of the latter's close supporters for anti-party activities.

Briefing newspersons, TDP spokesman and MP Ummareddy Venkateswarlu said the party high command endorsed the action initiated by the party's Chittoor district unit against the dissident partymen, including Chittoor district Telugu Yuvatha (youth wing) convener Parthasarathy Naidu.

They were punished for gheraoing Minister for Employment Generation Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy at the party office in Chittoor on Monday and obstructing the ongoing membership drive of the party.

The dissidents had locked Gopalakrishna Reddy and district party convener Ramesh Chandra Prasad inside the office, ransacked the premises and blocked the nearby road demanding appointment of Ramamurthy Naidu as the party's convener in Chandragiri.

Ramamurthy Naidu has been trying to rejoin active politics after a three-year lull following his defeat in the 1999 assembly poll from Chandragiri constituency. He accuses the party of thwarting his efforts at the behest of his brother.

Of late, Ramamurthy Naidu has been making statements criticising the party leadership in this regard going so far as to dare the party high command to take up the membership drive in Chittoor district.

Soon after Gopalakrishna Reddy informed Chandrababu Naidu about Monday's incident, senior leaders met at the NTR Trust Bhavan, the TDP headquarters in Hyderabad, to discuss the issue.

On Tuesday morning, the chief minister held a teleconference with leaders from Chittoor district and gave them the green signal to expel the dissidents.

Venkateswarlu, however, evaded questions on the action contemplated by the party high command against Ramamurthy Naidu, a one-time MLA (from 1994-99), for alleged anti-party activities.

More reports from Andhra Pradesh