New Delhi: Has the BJP shown poor timing and taste in the way that it expelled Jaswant Singh? After all, the rebel was in Shimla to attend the Chintan Baithak.
Party president Rajnath Singh claims he had requested Jaswant Singh not to attend the Shimla session. And others in the BJP insist that the matter has not been handled indelicately.
Party leader Nalin Kohli told NDTV that the BJP could not punish Jaswant Singh for his pro-Jinnah book till it was formally released. Kohli says given that the party's top rung were scheduled to meet in Shimla, this was the earliest opportunity that they had to officially sack Jaswant Singh.
But the BJP will also have to justify expelling a member for pro-Jinnah remarks, even though L K Advani made similar remarks four years ago, praising Mohammed Ali Jinnah as a secular leader. Despite the controversy that followed, within and outside his party, Advani maintained that he stood by his comments.