The BJP on Thursday expelled former Malda district president Sanjit Mishra for alleged antiparty activities, but he said the organisation had cracked the whip because he had raised voice against corruption by senior leaders.

District BJP president Gobinda Chandra Mandal announced the expulsion of Mishra, along with another leader Nitai Mandal, who was accused of plotting an attempt on the life of the party’s Maldaha candidate Gopal Chandra Saha who subsequently won the poll.

Mishra, who is known to be close to the RSS, had been removed as the district BJP chief and suspended in June, 2019.

Ahead of the Assembly elections this year, Mishra managed to organise dissident BJP workers and leaders, some of whom contested under the banner of the Jana Sangh. This made the BJP withdraw his suspension and Mishra was reinducted into the party.

Reacting to his expulsion on Thursday, Mishra said: “This is ridiculous. The BJP claims to be a democratic party. But I had not been allowed to defend myself before the expulsion. Actually, holding a post in the BJP is a profitable business now. A number of state and district leaders are using their designations for business. Any protest would lead to expulsion.”

Mishra alleged that crores of rupees, which the central BJP leadership had disbursed for the election campaign, had been misappropriated by state and district functionaries.

“People who had provided services to the party ahead of the polls are yet to get their fees. They include decorators and transporters. A section of BJP leaders is into corruption and siphoned off the party funds. Those who are raising questions are being thrown out to conceal such malpractices. As I had raised my voice, I had to face the same fate,” said Mishra.

Neither Gobinda Chandra Mandal nor any other district BJP functionary was ready to comment on Mishra’s charges.

A BJP insider said Mishra had the habit of calling a spade a spade and that was why he had faced the wrath of the leadership. “His suspension had been hurriedly withdrawn so that the dissident candidates did not benefit from his support during the elections. Now that the elections are over, he is thrown out of the party again. The decision, we apprehend, will affect the organisation in Malda,” said the insider.