Jaswant, a soft target for the BJP top brass

New Delhi: It was the return of the iron fist rule within the BJP when party chief Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said, “I called up Jaswant Singh and told him that he needn’t come to Shimla.”

Jaswant was expelled from the party for writing a book praising Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

"During Vajpayee's (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) time I was seen as the Hanuman, today I have become Ravana," a dejected Jaswant said.

Just 24 hours back, Rajnath Singh had issued a statement in Delhi distancing the BJP from Jaswant's book. Many thought that was where things would end but then RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat appeared in an interview asking for immediate end to “indiscipline” within the BJP.

Jaswant being critical of Sangh's views on Jinnah is something that went down as the worst breach. However, Bhagwat on Wednesday said, “This is BJP's own decision, we have nothing to do with it."

There are some within the BJP who are wondering whether this was too harsh a punishment. Eyebrows will also be raised on the manner in which the decision was announced.

Rajnath Singh claims that he tried to get in touch with Jaswant on Tuesday but couldn’t.

But for Jaswant it was the ultimate act of humiliation. “I should have been informed personally, not on the phone,” Jaswant said.

Observers say Jaswant was a soft target for the BJP top brass, a high profile leader with no mass base. But he's had a long history with the party and was someone who was close to Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Jaswant’s story:

Jaswant Singh is a Member of Parliament from Darjeeling.

He was an officer in the Indian Army in the 1960s, was later commissioned in the Central India House but resigned after sometime to join politics.

He served as Finance Minister in the 13-day Vajpayee government in 1996 and then again in 2002.

He held the External Affairs portfolio from 1998 to July 2002. He personally escorted Masood Azhar and other terrorists to Kandahar during the IC814 hijack.