Need to differentiate between real and fake BJP: Jaswant

Ignoring overtures from party leadership, angry BJP leader Jaswant Singh on Sunday announced his decision to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Barmer constituency in Rajasthan as an independent. Singh told mediapersons that he was not a ‘piece of furniture’ whom the party could adjust anywhere. Singh is miffed following the denial of party ticket from Barmer, from where Congress convert Colonel Sonaram Choudhary, a Jat leader known to be close to Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, has been given fielded. 

 

Singh on Sunday said he would file his nomination on Monday. However, he also said that he is not resigning from the party yet and said he would consult his colleagues before taking that step. ‘Independent or not, will depend on the party’s attitude. There was need to differentiate between real and fake BJP. One which is real and the other is unreal or better put original and duplicate. Unfortunately the duplicate part has the reins of party now,’ he said. The annoyed BJP leader, who currently represents Darjeeling seat in Lok Sabha, alleged that the party was being encroached upon by outsiders His son Manvendra Singh, who is a BJP MLA from Barmer, stayed away from recent meetings called by Raje.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, meanwhile, backed Singh and expressed her disappointment over Singh not being allowed to contest upcoming LS polls from his home constituency. However, her counterpart in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, said the party would find an alternate way of using veteran leader.

‘Membership of a political party is a privilege. It is also an act of self-oppression where personal views and ambitions are subjected to collective wisdom of the party. At times, the party may flood leaders with privileges and positions. On other occasions, the leader may have to take — no — as an answer to his desires,’ Jaitley wrote in a social networking site.