BJP expels Haryana ex-minister Chautala among 8 rebels

Former Haryana minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and seven other leaders were expelled by the Bharatiya Janata Party for six years on Sunday, after they decided to contest the October 5 state assembly polls as independent candidates.

The Haryana BJP said its chief Mohan Lal Badoli has expelled these leaders for a period of six years with immediate effect.

Besides Chautala, Sandeep Garg (contesting the polls from Ladwa), Zile Ram Sharma (Assandh), Devender Kadian (Ganaur), Bachan Singh Arya (Safidon), Radha Ahlawat (Meham), Naveen Goel (Gurugram) and Kehar Singh Rawat (Hathin) have been expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Chautala decided to quit the saffron party after he was denied the poll ticket from Rania, the seat he represented in the assembly when he was an independent MLA.

Chautala quit the membership of the Assembly before joining the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls held earlier in the year. He had unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary polls from Hisar.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5 and the counting of votes will be taken up on October 8. The BJP is eyeing to return to power in the state for a third consecutive term.

The Haryana Congress expelled 13 leaders on Friday for "anti-party activities" over their decision to contest the polls as independent candidates.

Several leaders of both the BJP and the Congress were upset over being denied tickets to contest the Assembly polls, but the parties have managed to pacify most of them.