BJP expels ex-minister, 7 other rebels in Haryana; Congress throws out 2 for anti-party activities

CHANDIGARH: Former Haryana minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and seven other leaders were expelled by BJP for six years on Sunday, after they decided to contest the October 5 Assembly polls as independent candidates.Haryana BJP said its chief Mohan Lal Badoli had expelled the leaders with immediate effect.Besides Chautala, Sandeep Garg (contesting the polls from Ladwa), Zile Ram Sharma (Assandh), Devender Kadian (Ganaur), Bachan Singh Arya (Safidon), Radha Ahlawat (Meham), Naveen Goel (Gurugram) and Kehar Singh Rawat (Hathin) were expelled.Chautala decided to quit BJP after he was denied the poll ticket from Rania, the seat he represented in the assembly when he was an independent MLA. The 90-member Haryana assembly is scheduled to go to polls on Oct 5 and the counting of votes will be on October 8.