JD-U expels four rebel legislators

A day after the assembly membership of four rebel JD-U legislators was terminated, they were Sunday expelled from the party.

"After Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary Saturday terminated the membership of four rebel JD-U legislators, the party has expelled them on grounds of indiscipline," state JD-U president Vashisht Narain Singh told media persons here.

The four are Gyanendra Singh Gyanu, Rahul Sharma, Ravinder Rai and Neeraj Bablu.

The four rebel legislators had been suspended from the party for six years early this year.

Singh said the party had acted against them as it could not tolerate their anti-party activities. On the basis of the charges levelled against them by the party, the speaker had taken a decision to terminate their membership after hearing their case over the past few months.

Worried over the activities of rebel legislators during the Rajya Sabha by-elections in Bihar three months ago, the JD-U cracked the whip on six out of 18 legislators against whom a party report sought disciplinary action. A recommendation was made to the speaker for ending their membership.

It was the first such action taken against rebel legislators who have been challenging the party leadership since last April-May.