Bhubaneswar: Three of the six Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Lok Sabha Members of Parliament (MP)s, who revolted against the leadership and ousted the leader of the BJD Parliamentary party, Arjun Charan Sethi, two months ago, were on November 16 expelled from the primary membership of the party for six years.

The decision appears to have deepened the crisis in the five-year-old regional outfit amidst threats by the rebel leaders to remove the party president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik from both posts.

The three MPs expelled were Prabhat Samantaray, Kumudini Patnaik and Jagannath Mallick who were suspended from the party on August 9, the BJD secretary general Damodar Rout told reporters.

Rout said that the decision to expel the three MPs was taken by the party president after consultation with senior BJD leaders and office-bearers.

PTI