Charged with working against the principles and policies of the BSP - the party they joined in August this year - former external affairs minister, K Natwar Singh, and his son Jagat Singh, have been expelled from the party. BSP general secretary, Satish Chandra Mishra, charged Natwar Singh with "indiscipline" and indulging in "anti-party activities" after being denied Rajya Sabha nomination.

Mishra said that Natwar Singh had been clearly told that it was not possible to nominate him, as preference was given to those who had a long association with the BSP movement. Natwar Singh had earlier been expelled from the Congress, and he campaigned for the Samajwadi Party-led United National Progressive Alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the 2007 Assembly elections.

As for Jagat Singh, Mishra said he had been given ticket to contest the Lok Sabha election from Jaipur. When he realized that the BSP would play an important role in the formation of the next government in Rajasthan, he clamored for contesting the Vidhan Sabha poll from Bharatpur. However, he was refused nomination as a Brahmin candidate was already named for the seat. In fact, Mishra added that Jagat Singh was earlier expelled from the Rajasthan BSP unit.

Accusing the father-son duo for indulging in "anti-party activities", Mishra said they were working for personal gains and not for strengthening the party, and hence were expelled.

Meanwhile, in the Hardoi assembly by-election, BSP candidate Nitin Agarwal defeated his nearest rival Samajwadi Party's Sukh Sagar Mishra by more than 17,300 votes. While there was no BJP nominee for the by-poll, the Congress fared poorly with its candidate Mithilesh Singh Chauhan losing his deposit managing only 5,737 votes.