Congress expels 10 leaders in Haryana for anti-party activities ahead of Assembly polls

The Congress on Monday expelled 10 leaders from the party in Haryana for six years for indulging in anti-party activities ahead of the Assembly elections.

"The disciplinary committee of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), with the approval of the Hon'ble Congress president, has expelled the following individuals from the party for a period of six years due to anti-party activities," the party statement read.

Expelled Leaders

The expelled leaders include Chitra Sarwara, Satvinder Rana, Kapoor Singh Narwal, Virender Ghoghrian, Somveer Ghasola, Hands Kosliya, Ajit Guliya, Sharda Rathore, Lalit Nagar and Satveer Bhana.

Earlier on Friday, September 27, the grand old party had expelled 13 party leaders for their “involvement in anti-party activities.” These expelled party leaders choose to contest as independent candidates against the party’s official nominees for the upcoming Assembly polls. The expelled leaders include Naresh Dhande, Pardeep Gill, Sajjan Singh Dhull, Vijay Jain, Abhijeet Singh, Dilbag Sandil, Rajiv Mamuram Gondar and Ajit Phogat among others.

On Sunday, September 29, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also expelled Ranjit Singh Chautala and seven other leaders after they opted to contest the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections as independent candidates. The list includes former minister Ranjit Chautala, former MLA Devendra Kadyan, Sandeep Garg, Zile Ram Sharma, Bachan Singh Arya, Radha Ahlawat, Naveen Goel and and Kehar Singh Rawat.

It is important to note that several ticket hopefuls from both the parties have jumped into the electoral fray as an independent candidate in recent days after being denied a chance to contest the polls as party candidate.

Haryana is slated to vote on October 5 with votes being counted a few days later on October 8. The previous election had seen BJP emerge as the single largest party with 40 seats while the Congress won 30 seats in the 90-member state legislative assembly.