Email
Print
ShareNew Delhi:
Expulsion from the BJP has forced Jaswant Singh to go to the third row in the Lok Sabha as he has lost his front row seat in the opposition ranks.
71-year old Singh has been given seat number 371 in the third row in the Lok Sabha which falls in the fifth block accommodating members from small parties, Parliament sources said.
A decision to allot the seat to Singh, who is also chairman of the prestigious Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has been taken by speaker Meira Kumar, ahead of the Winter session of Parliament beginning on November 19.
After the May elections, Singh had a seat in the front row along with leader of opposition LK Advani, deputy leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj, party president Rajnath Singh, and former party president Murli Manohar Joshi by virtue of having been one of the senior most leaders of BJP then.
Incidentally, Singh was the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha before his election to the Lok Sabha from Darjeeling constituency in West Bengal.
BJP's move to remove Singh from the chairmanship of the PAC has not succeeded. Rules have it that if a member is unable to discharge his functions as head of any panel, only then the speaker has the discretion to find a replacement.
Singh himself has made it clear that he has no intention to oblige the BJP by quitting the post.
