Ahead of assembly polls, Haryana BJP expels eight leaders for six years

The Haryana unit of the BJP on Sunday expelled eight leaders from the party for six years for contesting the upcoming Haryana assembly elections as independent candidates against the party candidates.

On the list are former minister Ranjit Chautala and former MLA Devendra Kadyan from Rania and Ganaur constituencies, respectively. The other leaders who were suspended are Sandeep Garg from the Ladwa constituency, Jileram Sharma from Assandh, Bachchan Singh Arya from the Safidon seat, Radha Ahlawat from Maham assembly constituency, Gurugram's Naveen Goyal, and Keharsingh Rawat from Hathin.




According to the official notification, BJP Haryana President PT Mohanlal Badoli expelled the candidates with immediate effect.

Elections for the 90-member Haryana Assembly is set to be held on October 5 and the results will be declared on October 8. For this year's assembly polls, Haryana is witnessing a multi-thronged contest, with the ruling BJP facing anti-incumbency as well as a resurgent Congress.

After a decade in power in the northern state, the saffron party is faced with a crucial test in the Haryana elections, centred around key issues such as farmer protests, leadership changes, and wrestler support.

Notably, the leadership shake-up within the BJP has added another layer of intrigue to the party's electoral ambitions. The BJP replaced long-serving Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini in March this year.

A loss in Haryana for the BJP is likely to ripple across future state polls and national elections.

In the last assembly polls of 2019, the BJP had emerged as the single-largest party with 40 seats, while the Congress had won 30.