Patna:
Senior JD(U) legislator Chhedi Paswan was suspended for six years by his party after he met BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Saturday.
Mr Paswan, who was a minister in Nitish Kumar's previous government, is presently a legislator from Mohania in Kaimur district. He met Mr Modi in Gandhinagar on Saturday.
Mr Paswan, who has been reportedly unhappy for some time on being denied ministerial berth in Nitish Kumar's cabinet after 2010 elections, described his meeting with the Gujarat Chief Minister as only a courtesy call.
But, his party refused to buy this.
"Party President Sharad Yadav has suspended Paswan from JD(U) for six years," state JD(U) President Bashistha Narayan Singh told PTI.
Mr Paswan, had also served as minister in Lalu Yadav's RJD government before switching over to JD(U) in 2005.
Mr Modi is scheduled to address "Hoonkar rally" at Gandhi maidan in Patna on October 27, his first major political engagement in Bihar after separation of JD(U) and BJP.
Earlier, two JD(U) MPs - Captain Jainarayan Nishad and Purnamasi Ram - had met BJP Gujarat President Rajendra Rupala and sang paens to Narendra Modi.
Two Congress leaders, including Lalu Prasad's estranged brother-in-law Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav, had to pay the price for meeting Modi in Gujarat. They were thrown out of their party on this ground.