The head of the centre-right Unión-PRO troika in the province of Buenos Aires, Francisco De Narváez, said his party had ousted two deputies who voted in favour of the government's 2010 Budget Bill. One of the deputies who left the party meanwhile said he made the decision to leave because of a lack of leadership.

"The misbehaviour and the treason to our commitment to the citizens is outrageous," said De Narváez, confirming the ouster of Rubén Ledesma and Patricia Gardella from the party caucus.

Talking during a radio interview in Buenos Aires, De Narvaéz said he was informed that the Unión-PRO lawmakers would not party instructions as the session had already started. The Congress passed the 2010 Budget Bill on Wednesday and submitted it to the Upper House.

"At the floor of Congress, I was seating next to the deputy (Gardella). They pressed the Yes instead of the No button," said De Narváez, claiming his caucus "would not accept treason from its people."

Ledesma meanwhile said he had adopted the decision to leave caucus led by De Narváez, and accused the businessman of failing to meet with his loyalist lawmakers to set a position on the vote.

"I wasn't able to set my own position in Congress, because our caucus was headed by mute De Narváez," said Ledesma, who was reelected to his post in the June 28 elections.

Ledesma also said he would create a new caucus, Corriente Peronista Federal, which would "neither support the government nor Unión-PRO."