Patna, Oct 27 (PTI) The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Monday expelled 27 leaders — including two MLAs, four former legislators and an MLC — for anti-party activities and defying the organisation’s ideology in the Bihar assembly elections.

According to a statement by RJD state chief Mangani Lal Mandal, the expelled leaders have also been suspended from the party’s primary membership.

“The RJD took disciplinary action against the leaders after it found that they were indulging in anti-party activities against the RJD or Mahagathbandhan nominees”, the statement said.

The expelled MLAs are Chote Lal Rai (Parasa) and Mohammad Kamran (Govindpur). Four former legislators — Ram Prakash Mahto, Anil Sahni, Saroj Yadav and Anil Yadav — and ex-MLC Ganesh Bharti have also been suspended.

Other prominent leaders expelled include Ritu Jaiswal, Akshay Lal Yadav, Ram Sakha Mahto, Avneesh Kumar, Bhagat Yadav, Mukesh Yadav, Sanjay Rai, Kumar Gaurav and Rajeev Kushwaha, among others.

Reacting to this, a senior RJD leader said, “The expelled leaders were working against the officially declared candidates of the INDIA bloc and RJD.” The 243-member Bihar Assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, with results set to be announced on November 14. PTI PKD MNB