Shimla: The Chintan Baithak has lived upto its name. Just after the BJP began its Shimla session, party president Rajnath Singh announced that Jaswant Singh has been expelled.
Jaswant Singh was in Shimla for the meeting, but the fact that he chose not to attend it signalled trouble. His response to his expulsion: "The BJP wants to live in the past."
The immediate cause for the expulsion is Jaswant Singh's new book which glorifies Mohammed Ali Jinnah and blames Jawaharal Nehru and Sardar Patel for Partition. But the real issue is that Jaswant Singh has established himself as a repeated rebel.
Along with Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, he wrote strong letters to the party leadership, demanding accountability for the BJP's defeat in the general elections. He was also among those pushing hard for Vasundhara Raje to be forced out of her position as Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan. The BJP performed dismally in Rajasthan in the recent elections.
In a recent interview to NDTV, Jaswant Singh pushed party buttons hard by asking "What is Hindutva" - questioning the basic premise of the BJP.
Rajnath Singh clarified that he personally spoke to Jaswant Singh to inform him of his expulsion. The sacking is also seen as a show of strength for the BJP's parent body, the RSS, for whom Jaswant' Singh's pro-Jinnah book is blasphemy.