By IANS
New Delhi : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh Monday suspended five Gujarat legislators presumably for voting against party candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in last week's presidential poll.
Those suspended are former state home minister Gordhan Jhadaphia, Balubhai Tanti, Becharbhai Bhadani, Bavkubhai Unghad and Dhirubhai Gajera.
The statement by Singh avoided stating why the BJP has chosen to suddenly suspend the MLAs.
Gajera had announced after voting for Patil in the July 19 poll that he had followed the appeal of his leader (Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani) and voted "according to his conscience".
On July 17, when the BJP realised that some of its Gujarat MLAs, unhappy with the functioning of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, could indulge in cross-voting, the party issued an appeal to them to vote for Shekhawat.
Cross-voting in some states resulted in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate Pratibha Patil winning with a majority of over 300,000 votes, getting more votes than expected.
After the July 19 poll, there were reports that some Gujarat BJP MLAs had ignored the party appeal and voted for Patil.