Lone BSP MLA in Karna expelled for voting against Kumaraswamy

Bahujan Samaj Party National President Mayawati on Tuesday expelled lone party MLA N Mahesh in Karnataka for "violating" the party decision to vote infavour of the H D Kumaraswamy government that lost the trust vote in the assembly.

"By violating the party high command order to vote in favour of the Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka, BSP legislator N Mahesh was absent during the trust vote today, which isindiscipline and the party has considered it seriously," the BSPsupremo said in a tweet in Hindi.

"Mahesh has been expelled from the party withimmediate effect," she added.

Mayawati on Sunday had directed Mahesh to vote infavour of the Kumaraswamy government, after he had said that he would skip the trust vote in the absence of any clearinstructions from the high command.

BSP had contested the May 2018 assembly polls in a tie-up with JD(S), which in a post-election understandingjoined hands with Congress to form the government following a fractured verdict.

Mahesh, the MLA from Kollegala, who was part of the Kumaraswamy cabinet as the Primary and Secondary Education Minister had in October 2018 quit his post citing personal reasons, but had said he would continue to support the ruling coalition.