The Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has expelled five persons from the party due to dissident activities.

Prominent among the four is Shakuntala Shetty, the former legislator from the Puttur constituency in coastal Karnataka.

Shakuntala, a former MLA from Puttur, was denied a ticket this year due to alleged diffferences with the party president Sadanand Gowda.

She, however, decided to file her nominations as a rebel candidate, despite the party fielding another candidate.

The party took the decision to expel her from the party for six years.

The others to be expelled are Abbas Ali Bohra, an aspirant from the Mandya constituency, Shivraj T from Kanakgiri, Banari Gopalkrishna Bhat and Vishwanath Rai, both party workers from Dakshin Kannada district.