Cracking down on rebellion in the party ahead of the assembly elections, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) expelled 16 leaders, including a sitting MLA and two former ministers, most of whom have entered the fray against official NDA candidates.

The expulsions have been announced in two separate communications issued, one on late Saturday and the other on Sunday, in which the rebel leaders have been charged with "anti-party activities" and violation of the ideology of JD(U).

Among those who have been expelled is Narendra Niraj alias Gopal Mandal, the sitting MLA from Gopalpur in Bhagalpur district, who remains in the news, mostly for wrong reasons.

Mandal had recently staged a dharna in front of the CM's residence in Patna when he learnt that the party was going to drop him from

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