It’s a signal to Raje

The unanimous decision to expel Jaswant Singh is seen as a subtle signal to the BJP’s leader in Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, who has been stalling the party president’s orders to tender her resignation from the post of leader of opposition.

“With this, our Rajasthan operation is over. The party president and organisation secretary have been removed. Jaswant Singh has been expelled and Vasundhara Raje has already been told to quit,” a BJP leader said with a sense of satisfaction.

“Today’s decision meant only one thing: that the party would not compromise with ideology, and discipline is above all in the party,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Jawdekar said.

Asked why Jaswant Singh was expelled from the party over phone without being served a show-cause notice, the BJP spokesman said, “As per the constitution of our party parliamentary board, we can do that.”

“The party president had made it clear yesterday that absolving Jinnah of his role during partition and holding Sardar Patel responsible for it were not acceptable to the party,” he said. Asked what according to the party was more serious - exonerating Jinnah or blaming Sardar Patel — Jawdekar said blaming Patel for partition was more serious.

Asked if the party was planning to take similar action against Vasundhara Raje, he said, “We have already decided on that issue and in a few days time you will see that people are abiding by the party’s decision.”

Explaining Advani’s views on Jinnah, expressed in 2005, Jawdekar said, “Advani’s views were different and there is no comparison. Advani was only referring to Jinnah’s speech in the constituent assembly where he spoke of a secular Pakistan where minorities would be protected but it had instead turned into a theocratic state.”