The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday withdrew the party membership of controversial Rajya Sabha member D P Yadav after objections were raised within the party and outside over his alleged criminal antecedents.

The decision was announced by party president M Venkaiah Naidu at a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.

He said the decision was taken after consulting Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani.

"We also took into consideration media reports about him [Yadav]. He rang me up this morning to say that he did not want the BJP to suffer on his account in any way...I then decided to cancel his membership," Naidu said.

Yadav was earlier with the Samajwadi Party but fell out with its chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, over the issue of who would contest the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat.

On Monday, party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had faced persistent media questioning over Yadav's criminal background.