Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati Friday expelled criminal-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and his brother Afzal from the primary membership of the party. Both brothers are at present in jail.

'Ansari's involvement in criminal activities led our party president to take the decision to expel him,' a BSP press release released here said.

His elder brother Afzal Ansari, who was a BSP MP, also has been expelled while the party has decided to distance itself from their cousin Sibtainullah Ansari, who had been extending his support to the party despite being a Samajwadi Party legislator.

Both Afzal and Mukhtar are in jail in connection with the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Krishnanand Rai, who was gunned down in a broad daylight ambush near Allahabad a few years ago.