Biju Janata Dal(BJD), the ruling party in Orissa and ally in the NDA, expelled their MP Harihar Swain from the primary membership of the party late on Tuesday evening for voting in favour of the UPA government during the crucial trust vote in the Lok Sabha.

“Swain has been expelled for defying the party whip and going against the wish of the party,” Orissa chief minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik told reporters here. He added that steps will be taken to cancel the rebel MP’s Lok Sabha membership.

Party whip

The party had issued a whip to all its 11 members in the Lok Sabha to vote against the trust motion. Patnaik had a meeting with the MPs in New Delhi just before the trust vote. A former Congressman and a minister in the Congress government in the state between 1995 and 2000, Swain was elected to the Lok Sabha on a BJD ticket from Aska constituency in Southern Orissa Ganjam district in 2004.

Aska was the Lok Sabha constituency of Naveen Patnaik before his entry into state politics to become the chief minister of the state in 2000.