Ahead of the municipal elections in Haryana, the State Congress unit on Thursday expelled seven leaders for “anti-party activities”. A few of these leaders have already joined the Bharatiya Janata Party after they were denied the party’s ticket for mayoral elections.

Prominent among those expelled include Tarlochan Singh and Ashok Khurana, both former district committee presidents, and Ram Niwas Rara, who had unsuccessfully contested the Hisar Assembly election last year on the Congress ticket.

Both Mr. Singh and Mr. Khurana had recently joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Nayab Saini after they were denied ticket for the mayor’s election to Karnal municipal corporation. Mr. Singh had contested the Karnal byelection against Mr. Saini in May last year.

Mr. Rara, considered close to Sirsa MP Kumari Selja, too was miffed over being denied the party’s ticket for mayor’s election to Hisar municipal corporation and had joined the BJP a day earlier.

Harvinder alias Lovely, the State general secretary of the Congress’s Scheduled Caste Department, has been expelled after he withdrew his nomination from Gurugram municipal corporation’s Ward 22 on Wednesday, paving the way for the BJP’s candidate victory. Ram Kishan Sain, also expelled by the Congress, was seeking ticket for the mayor’s election to the Gurugram municipal corporation.

Similarly, Pradeep Chaudhary, North Zone Co-ordination Committee member, and former district Youth Congress president Madhu Chaudhary, have been expelled. While Mr. Chaudhary had alleged corruption in ticket distribution, Ms. Chaudhary has filed her nomination for the mayor’s post from Yamuna Nagar municipal corporation after she was denied ticket by the party.