Congress party Tuesday expelled six of its MLAs who cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Party General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi told media in New Delhi yesterday that they voted against Congress candidate Kapil Sibal, who won with support from other parties.
Those expelled for defying party whip and indulging in anti-party activities are Sanjay Pratap Jaiswal, Madhuri Verma, Vijay Dubey, Mohd Muslim, Dilnawaz Khan and Kazim Ali Khan. Expelled Mohammad Muslim is the lone Congress MLA from entire Amethi and Raebareli area represented by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
Out of six MLAs who have been expelled from the party, three had voted for the BJP candidate and three for the BSP nominee. AICC general secretary and in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad said that they gave first preference votes for the BSP and BJP and second preference for the Congress. The Congress candidate Kapil Sibal survived the cross-voting scare and just managed to win the election. Azad accused BJP for orchestrating the cross-voting in Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, Samajwadi Party, BSP and BJP had suspended their MLAs for cross-voting in the state. In Karnataka, JD(S) had also suspended its eight rebel MLAs who voted against its official candidate.