Click to play videoNew Delhi: Senior leader Jaswant Singh, who was expelled from the BJP nine months ago, was reinducted into the party formally in a function here on Thursday.
The function was attended by party president Nitin Gadkari, L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and a number of senior leaders from the BJP. Addressing mediapersons Singh said at the BJP headquarters here it felt good to be back.
"Its good to be back in a familiar surrounding among familiar faces. I thank (senior party leader L.K.) Advani-ji who took the initiative and telephoned me to come over and meet him," Singh said.
"When I met him, I experienced much more gratitude, generosity and graciousness compared to the humiliation I experienced when I was expelled from the party. He asked me to come back and consider the chapter as closed," he said.
Welcoming Singh back to the party fold, Advani said: "It's a matter of happiness and sense of relief that he is back in the party. I welcome him and I am confident we will get his support and direction for running the party."
BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said what has happened is past and "we should live in the present".
Singh, who is the MP from Darjeeling, was re-admitted into the party in the presence of senior leaders including Advani, Gadkari and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.
While many tout the move as the biggest political U-turn of the year, BJP sources say, Jaswant would have formally rejoined the party in Patna but for the Modi-Nitish fiasco.
The spat between the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumarhad the potential to break the 12-year long alliance between the BJP and the Janata Dal (United) ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
A couple of weeks back, Jaswant had told CNN-IBN in an exclusive interview that he was missing the party he worked for four decades. The BJP stalwart was shown the door during the BJP's Chintan Baithak in Shimla. His crime was he wrote a book praising Jinnah, attacking Sardar Patel.
A senior BJP leader says Jaswant was never a bad individual. The decision to expel him was taken in the heat of the moment and any decision on his return will be formally announced by party president Nitin Gadkari.
Senior BJP leader L K Advani led the 'Bring Jaswant back' campaign though it was Lalji, as Jaswant refers to Advani, who was the main focus of Singh's barbs during his months of wilderness.
The first visible signs of Advani's warmth towards Jaswant came during the funeral of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat when Advani took the veteran leader with him in the same aircraft.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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