CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal Sunday expelled senior leaders Ranjit Singh Brahmpura and Rattan Singh Ajnala from the party's primary membership for six years.
As the two leaders were indulging in "anti-party activities", the core committee of the Akali Dal took the decision with a "heavy heart", SAD senior leader Harcharan Bains said.
Brahmpura's son Ravinder Pal Singh Brahmpura and Ajnala's son Amarpal Singh Boni too were ousted for six years from the primary membership of the party, Bains told reporters here.
Bains said the party regretted that Brahampura and Ajnala along with their sons, "have recently been acting in a manner which showed utter insensitivity and disregard for the immense respect and the liberal and magnanimous treatment extended to them by party leaders, Parkash Singh Badal and the party president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
The core committee felt that former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir displayed "extraordinary patience, humility and tolerance even in the face of utterly unwarranted personal attacks against them and against the party by these leaders who had benefited immensely by the large-heartedness of the two leaders", Bains said.
Brahmpura, a Member of Parliament from Khadoor Sahib, had last month resigned from the post of SAD's senior vice-president as well as its core committee membership due to age and health reasons.
Notably, SAD had recently expelled Sewa Singh Sekhwan, a former minister, from the primary membership of the party, shortly after he had announced his resignation as senior vice-president and core committee member.
Sekhwan, Brahmpura and some other Taksali Akalis (old guard), were raising their voice against SADs' alleged deviation from its 'panthic agenda'.
The first signs of trouble came to the fore when several Taksali leaders expressed discontent over the party's functioning after the Ranjit Singh panel report, which looked into sacrilege cases and the subsequent police action, was made public two months ago.
A day after veteran leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa resigned on September 30, Brahmpura, Ajnala and Sekhwan had virtually raised a banner of revolt saying "all was not well within the party.
Reacting to his expulsion, Brahmpura said that he wasn't surprised by the core committee's decision and went on to question Sukhbir Singh Badal's leadership.
He alleged that Sukhbir and his brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia had "hijacked" the SAD.
However, Bains claimed that both Brahmpura and Ajnala were extended preferential treatment by the Badals and it was their "indiscipline" that had led to their ouster from the party.