The Bharatiya Janata Party late on Monday night expelled nine of its party leaders who have filed their nominations for the Assembly elections on the Lok Janshakti Party ticket, on disciplinary grounds.
State president Sanjay Jaiswal expelled them for six years for their anti-party activities.
“You all are contesting the elections against NDA candidates and it tarnishes not only NDA’s impression but of party as well and this is against party’s discipline…so, for anti-party activities you all are expelled from the party for six years,” said the letter issued by Mr. Jaiswal.
The leaders are Rajendra Singh , Usha Vidyarthi, Rameshwar Chaurasia, Mrinal Shekhar, Ravindra Yadav, Shweta Singh, Indu Kashyap, Anil Kumar and Ajay Pratap. They were ticket hopefuls to contest the poll but under NDA coalition.
Mr. Rajendra Singh, who was associated with the RSS for a long time, even had contested the 2015 Assembly elections on the BJP ticket from Dinara in Rohtas but had lost to JD(U)’s Jai Kumar Singh by a thin margin. Later, Mr. Jai Kumar Singh was made Minister in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet.
At that time, Mr. Rajendra Singh’s name was also doing the rounds in political circles as BJP’s chief ministerial candidate. But this time the constituency seat fell into JD(U) quota and Mr. Singh decided to contest the poll on the LJP ticket.
The LJP had declared that it would contest the polls against the JD(U) but not the BJP. Names of all these nine BJP leaders had figured in the list of the LJP.
The BJP was apparently embarrassed. The JD(U) is an alliance partner of the BJP for long and they are contesting the polls jointly.
Earlier, the BJP leaders had categorically announced that those who would contest the poll against the NDA candidates would not be part of it and they could not use Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pictures in poll campaign.
“We would also request the Election Commission to take action against those using PM Modi’s pictures except NDA candidates,” Mr. Jaiswal said.
Under the NDA coalition, the JD(U) is contesting 122 and the BJP 121 seats. The JD(U) has accommodated former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi led-Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) by giving seven seats and the BJP has spared 11 seats to another alliance partner Mukesh Sahni-led Vikasheel Insaan Party.
The three-phase elections for the 243 seats will be held on October 28, November 3 and 7. The counting will take place on November 10.
