Haryana Congress expels 46 for working against party

CHANDIGARH: Just four days ahead of state assembly elections, the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) on Saturday expelled 46 leaders for indulging in anti-party activities. The list, however, did carry the name of chief parliamentary secretary Sharda Rathore who was served a show cause notice after she had gone vocal against HPCC chief Ashok Tanwar while accusing him of misbehaving and being biased against her.
Out of 46 expelled leaders, 43 are contesting assembly polls as independent candidates or have shifted to other parties. The rebels include chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hoda's close confidants like minister Sukhbir Kataria, former CPS Zile Ram Sharma, former MP Jai Parkash and former MLAs Shiv Shankar Bhardwaj, Anil Takkar, Prof Chhatar Singh, former minister A C Chaudhary and former president of Kurkshetra municipal council Subhash Sudha who is contesting on a BJP ticket.
Tanwar said the leaders had been expelled after the charges of anti-party activities were proved as they are contesting elections against nominees of the Congress. "You need to have sufficient evidence against anybody before taking any action. This is not late but a prompt action," said Tanwar, adding that the Congress high command had given the go-ahead for their expulsion.