SP expels three MLAS for 'anti-party' stance

The Samajwadi Party Monday expelled three of its MLAs, who allegedly cross-voted and helped the BJP win the Rajya Sabha polls last year, for siding with ideologies opposed to the party’s core values and working against public interest.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Those expelled from the party are Abhay Singh (MLA from Gosainganj in Ayodhya), Rakesh Pratap Singh (Gaurig-anj in Amethi) and Manoj Kumar Pandey (Unchahar in Raebareli), the SP said in an official statement shared on its social media handles.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had alleged that the BJP used coercive tactics and inducements to engineer defections and weaken Opposition unity in the state Assembly. While the party said the legislators were removed for endorsing “communal, divisive, and negative ideologies” that go against the Samajwadi Party's inclusive and progressive principles, the MLAs strongly slammed the Akhilesh Yadav-led party's decision, questioning its internal leadership and ideological drift.