Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday expelled senior leader Jaswant Singh for writing a book praising Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
The decision was taken at the party’s chintan baithak held in Shimla with BJP president Rajnath Singh.
The decision sent a message that the party will not compromise with ideology and discipline.
Everyone who has dared to question the central leadership after the General Elections debacle had a similar experience.
Jaswant Singh has been expelled, Yashwant Sinha has stepped down from all party posts and Arun Shourie is almost marginalised.
Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje – popularly referred to as ‘The Maharani of Rajasthan’ – is the latest addition to the list of party rebels.
However, Raje is the only one surviving the battle right now, most probably because she commands the support of majority of the MLAs in the state.
Jaswant Singh’s expulsion has raised a big question – Was he a relatively soft target for the BJP?
Unlike Raje, Jaswant Singh was never really a mass leader. His political growth is largely credited to his proximity to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and much like Arun Shourie after Vajpayee’s retirement Jaswant’s supporters are also running out of options.
“You have to adhere to the ideology of the party but I do feel it could have been handled differently,” says RSS senior leader Seshadri Chari.
The next question is – Is the RSS coming back to controlling the levers of power within the BJP?
So, if this is true then what will happen to leaders like Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Venkaiah Naidu, who, were looking at themselves as the BJP’s future?
Perhaps, the party is missing a pitamah - kind of a figure, a role which was played by Vajpayee for a long time.
After his retirement, there has been no one in the BJP whose words are considered as final by the party leaders.
Jaswant Singh’s expulsion may well be the beginning of more embarrassing episodes for the party.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.