The BJP expelled eight leaders on Sunday evening after they opted to contest the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections as independent candidates. The list includes former minister Ranjit Chautala and former MLA Devendra Kadyan. The development also comes mere days after the Haryana Congress took a similar decision for 21 leaders.  

Several ticket hopefuls from both parties have jumped into the electoral fray in recent days after being denied a chance to contest the polls. Both the BJP and Congress have since managed to convince some of these ‘rebel’ candidates to withdraw their nominations while others continue to running spirited campaigns in the hope of emerging as independent kingmakers. 

Other prominent rebels who could cause trouble for the BJP include Deepak Dagar from Prithla, Jasbir Deswal from Safidon and Kalyan Chauhan from Sohna.

The announcement also came hours after senior BJP leaders JP Nadda and Amit Shah led rallies in the northern state on Sunday. The Home Minister has addressed the issue of some rebels contesting as independents during several recent rallies and urged voters to only cast their ballots for the “lotus” symbol.

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. 

The Opposition Congress also faces a similar dilemma with another nine ‘rebel’ leaders contesting the upcoming polls against chosen candidates. 

State chief Udai Bhan wrote to senior party leaders on Sunday seeking stern action against the group for indulging in “anti-party activities”. The letter recommended the expulsion of Sharda Rathore, Rohita Revri, Satbir Bhana, Rajkumar Valmiki, Kapoor Narwal, Virender Gogdia, Harsh Kumar, Lalit Nagar and Satbir Ratera. 

(With inputs from agencies)