Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Union minister Ajit Singh Tuesday expelled two MPs Devender Nagpal and Sarika Baghel from the party for hobnobbing with the Samajwadi Party (SP).
RLD has also sought their disqualification in a petition to the Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
Baghel is a Lok Sabha member from Hathras while Nagpal represents Amroha, both in western Uttar Pradesh, the home turf of RLD chief and civil aviation minister Ajit Singh.
Disciplinary action against the two MPs was on the cards in the wake of reports that Baghel had been declared SP candidate from the Agra Lok Sabha constituency while Nagpal had joined the SP and was in the queue for the ticket.
Nagpal, who had been denied the Lok Sabha ticket by RLD, had said that he was no more active in the party and would rather join the Samajwadi Party. Nagpal had also accused the RLD leadership of being “highly corrupt”.
Uttar Pradesh is witnessing a trend of party hopping among MPs who have been denied ticket for Lok Sabha elections by their parent parties.
RLD has five members in the Lok Sabha including Ajit Singh elected from Baghpat and his son Jayant Chaudhary from Mathura.