The Janata Dal (Secular) on wednesday expelled its Lok Sabha member M Shivanna for defying the party directive and voting in favour of the UPA government during Tuesday's trust motion in Parliament. The decision to expel the Chamarajanagar MP was taken at a meeting party chief H D Deve Gowda had with Lok Sabha member M P Veerendrakumar and JD-S secretary general Danish Ali.

"We have decided to expel the MP for violating the decision of the party to vote against the confidence motion moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," Gowda told PTI. He refused to comment when asked what could have been the promises given by the ruling coalition to make Shivanna defy the party whip.

"Nowadays, political morality has thrown to the winds," he said, referring to allegations that the UPA indulged in horse-trading to muster the numbers during the floor test. "All unethical, immoral and shameful methods were adopted to persuade members to vote in favour of the government," he said.

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