Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) on Tuesday expelled a number of its office bearers, including its popular spokesman Ajay Alok for "misleading" party functionaries and running a "parallel agenda".
The order of expulsion of Mr Alok, besides Vipin Kumar Yadav and Anil Kumar, both state general secretaries, was passed by state president Umesh Kushwaha.
Notably, Mr Alok was perceived to be close to RCP Singh, JD(U)'s former national president who has now fallen out of favour with Kumar, the party's de facto chief.
Mr Singh, who is the sole JD(U) representative in the union cabinet, was recently denied another term in Rajya Sabha in what is being seen as a rebuke for his having accepted the ministerial berth without taking Mr Kumar into confidence.
Mr Alok, who is often seen on national news channels thanks to his proficiency in English, was also seen getting ideologically aligned with the BJP to an extent which was making Kumar uncomfortable notwithstanding his old ties with the saffron party.
"For the past many months it has been seen that some party office bearers have been running parallel agenda and misleading the workers ... They have been advised against doing so repeatedly, still they have engaged themselves in anti-party activities," the order said.
A doctor by qualification, Mr Alok posted a short video in which he sarcastically "thanked" the party for bringing to an end the old association.
The move is being viewed as yet another attempt by Mr Kumar to assert himself and demonstrate that his diminished strength in the assembly notwithstanding, he was not a pushover.
The order of expulsion stated much to the same effect in its opening paragraph.
"It is expected that all office bearers will contribute their talents and energies towards making the party organization, and our undisputed leader Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, strong", the JD-U communication said.
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