‘From BJP’s Hanuman, I am now its Ravana’

SHIMLA - “From BJP’s Hanuman, I am now its Ravana.”

These were the words of Lok Sabha MP and former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh in this Himachal Pradesh town on Aug 19 last year shortly after he got a phone call from then BJP president Rajnath Singh saying he had been expelled from the party.

Ten months after he was expelled from the party over his book praising Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Singh was re-inducted into the party at a formal ceremony in New Delhi Thursday.

Saying that he was “sad and regretful”, the 71-year-old former union minister, who has held the portfolios of defence, finance and external affairs, had said in Shimla: “It is sad and I regret it (expulsion) for a number of reasons, which I cannot explain in detail.”

In his press briefing, Singh referred to a cartoon in India Today magazine that had portrayed him as Hanuman and said he had now become the Ravana of the BJP.

“I have been a member of the BJP since it was formed (in 1980),” he had said.

“I had never imagined that 30 years of my service would have ended this way. It’s regretful,” he added.

He said he also “regretted” that the party president (Rajnath Singh) informed him about the decision over phone and not personally.

“I would have stepped down had they informed me in person,” he said.

“I am worried and sad that just one book has led to my expulsion,” he added, wondering what would happen if “soch, vichar and chintan” (thinking and introspection) stopped in Indian politics.

He, however, said he didn’t regret writing the book, “Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence”.

“They (BJP leaders) have not even read it completely,” he added.