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BJP expels eight MPs

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday expelled from primary membership eight of its MPs, who had either voted for Tuesday’s trust motion in the Lok Sabha or abstained. The Speaker’s office has also been petitioned for their disqualification as they defied the party whip.

The decision was taken at a meeting held at the residence of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, L.K. Advani, here. “It did not take even five minutes for the leadership to conclude that the eight MPs must be expelled forthwith,” BJP president Rajnath Singh said.

The expelled MPs are Brij Bhushan Sharan (Uttar Pradesh), Somabhai Patel (Gujarat), Manjunath Kunnur and H.T. Sangliana (both from Karnataka), who had voted in favour of the government; Manorama Madhavraj (Karnataka), Chander Bhan Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Haribhai Rathore (Maharashtra) and Babubhai Katara (Gujarat), who had abstained.

The BJP would start a countrywide agitation against corruption, with rallies in all State capitals on July 27.

Mr. Advani told journalists that the Manmohan Singh government began its innings in 2004 with the induction of “tainted ministers” and now in its fifth year it won a “tainted victory” in the trust vote. He referred to a cartoon in The Hindu, which played on “nuclear power” and “horse power”.

Referring to the JMM bribery scandal that erupted against the Narasimha Rao government, Mr. Advani said a similar case came to the notice of the public yet again.

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