The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday expelled party Vice President Prashant Kishor and national spokesperson Pavan Varma, PTI reported. This came days after their recent criticism of party chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“Thank you Nitish Kumar,” tweeted Kishor. “My best wishes to you to retain the chair of chief minister of Bihar. God bless you.”

On Tuesday, Kumar had claimed that Kishor was inducted in the Janata Dal (United) on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s request. Kishor, who is also a political strategist, accused Kumar of lying. The chief minister had pointed out that Kishor was working as a political strategist for several parties, and indicated he might want to quit the Janata Dal (United).

Last week, the chief minister had dismissed the letters written to him by Varma on the amended citizenship law and the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Varma had asked Kumar to “take a principled stand” against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register. In response, the Janata Dal (United) chief said Varma’s letters did not have any meaning or value, and said he was free to leave the party.

The Janata Dal (United) has been part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance since 1996, except from 2013 to 2017. In those four years, Kumar had publicly opposed the BJP’s Hindutva agenda. He returned to the NDA fold to form the government in Bihar.