A day after he was expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party, senior leader Jaswant Singh strongly defended his decision to contest the election as an independent candidate from Barmer.
He also launched a stringent attack on the party, saying that it has lost its vision for temporary political gains by heeding to “petty whims” of individuals.
Singh was expelled from the BJP for six years for refusing to withdraw his candidature against the official party nominee Colonel Sonaram Choudhary.
Singh had filed his nomination after he was denied the BJP ticket from Barmer constituency.
In a statement issued here, Singh said: “A party that cannot afford its most loyal adherents even the very basic courtesies and puts petty whims of individuals before the greater good of the people has certainly lost its vision and frittered away its virtues for temporary political gains. To what end, only time will tell.”
He said he was saddened by his expulsion from the party. “Because this decision lacks transparency, honesty and courtesy of appropriate communication, I am obliged to question it,” Singh said.
Referring to his candidature from Barmer, he said, ”This election in Barmer-Jaisalmer constituency very sadly exemplifies how these values are being perverted, indeed almost destroyed under the false pretense of party discipline and commitment to individuals.”
“The party selected a candidate with a questionable public record, who barely a day earlier had quit the Congress. To cover this decision, the party cast doubts over my winning ability and discredited my record be it over Ashok Gehlot in 1989 or twice in Chhittorgarh or more recently in Darjeeling.
Referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s reasoning that Sonaram, a Jat, had to be given the Lok Sabha ticket as the area was a prominently Jat region, Singh said, “The party cited caste equations, but I don’t subscribe to any caste and never have.”