Nearly two months after he failed to submit proper nomination papers, which not only embarrassed the party but also gave senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj a virtual walkover in Vidisha, the Congress finally expelled Rajkumar Patel for six years on Wednesday.

The former education minister failed to convince the party why he chose to submit the nomination papers at the eleventh hour when the necessary documents were given to him a week in advance.

After submitting his papers an hour before the deadline, he was told by the returning officer that a photocopy of Form A will not do and was asked to submit the original. By the time the state party headquarters sent a new Form A from Bhopal, about 50 km away, the deadline was over.

Patel had contested twice against former BJP chief minister Sunderlal Patwa and once against Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had campaigned for him in 1990 when he contested his first election against Patwa.

“I am shocked but I will accept the party’s decision with a heavy heart,” he told The Indian Express.