Crackdown in Bihar on rebels: BJP suspends ex-minister Raj Kumar Singh, MLC, his Mayor wife for anti-party actions

Former Union minister Raj Kumar Singh, who has been in the news for his outbursts against the ruling NDA in Bihar, was on Saturday suspended from the BJP for "anti-party" activities, a party leader said.

Singh, who has been served with a suspension order by the BJP headquarters in the state, has also been asked to show cause why he should not be expelled from the party.

In a similar action, the party also suspended MLC Ashok Kumar Agrawal and his wife Usha Agrawal, the mayor of Katihar, the BJP leader said.

The couple had canvassed for their son Saurabh, who was contesting the Katihar assembly seat on a ticket of Vikassheel Insan Party, against sitting BJP MLA and former Deputy CM Tarkishor Prasad.

Singh, the bureaucrat-turned-politician, who joined the BJP in 2014, months after retiring as the Union home secretary, has been critical of leaders, like Samrat Choudhary, a deputy chief minister of Bihar and a former state BJP president, for their alleged involvement in criminal cases.

He failed to retain his Ara Lok Sabha seat for a third consecutive term in the Lok Sabha polls last year,  Singh has also been critical of the "deal" struck by the state government with the Adani Group for setting up a power plant in Bhagalpur.