Ousted Jaswant gets sympathy from Farooq Abdullah

Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh today got support from an unexpected quarter with senior Union minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah saying that the manner in which he was ousted was not proper.

"The way he was expelled is bad and it can hurt anyone particularly someone who has served the party for as long as 30 years," the Union minister for new and renewable energy said here.

He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

71-year-old Singh, who had held key portfolios at the Centre, was conveyed the expulsion decision over telephone by party president Rajnath Singh two days after the release of his book "Jinnah-India, Partition, Independence", which did not go down well with party members as it eulogises Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Abdullah, however, declined to comment further on the issue saying he has not read the book so far.

"Everyone has freedom to write in a democracy and all authors have their own outlook. I will be able to comment further on the book after reading it," he said.

Asked if the episode would have any effect on Indo-Pak relationship, Abdullah said, "Relations with Pakistan change every now and then. So nothing new will happen following the episode".