New Delhi: A decade after his expulsion from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the late Jaswant Singh, former minister for external affairs, finance and defence, came in for glowing tributes from his former party colleagues on his 86th birth anniversary Wednesday.
From Rajasthan CM Bhajanlal Sharma to his deputy Diya Kumari, minister Rajyavardhan Rathore and a host of other BJP leaders took to social media platform X to pay tribute, calling him “senior BJP leader” and recalling his “unforgettable contributions to the country”.
The BJP had expelled Jaswant Singh after he contested as an Independent from Barmer parliamentary constituency in 2014. He was denied a ticket, a decision that was attributed to then Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
Incidentally, Raje also paid tributes to the late leader, saying that the services he rendered for the country’s security and in politics cannot be forgotten.
पूर्व केन्द्रीय मंत्री एवं वरिष्ठ राजनीतिज्ञ जसवंत सिंह जी की जयंती पर उन्हें कोटिशः नमन। राष्ट्र की सुरक्षा व राजनीति के क्षेत्र में विभिन्न पदों पर रहते हुए उन्होंने जिस सेवाभाव का परिचय दिया, उसे भुलाया नहीं जा सकता। #JaswantSinghJasol pic.twitter.com/23sb9g3XR2
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) January 3, 2024
Multiple BJP leaders ThePrint spoke to in Delhi and Rajasthan attributed at least two reasons for suddenly remembering their expelled late colleague. First, in the run up to the general election, the BJP has felt the need to claim the political legacy of the tall Rajput leader who had been elected to the Lok Sabha four times and to the Rajya Sabha five times.
BJP leaders can openly claim his legacy now that Singh’s detractor Vasundhara Raje is sidelined in the organisation.
Second, equally importantly, it’s a well-calculated outreach to his son, Manvendra Singh, who had quit the BJP in 2018 for ‘swabhiman (self-respect)’. The then BJP legislator was suspended for campaigning for his father in 2014. Manvendra had claimed that he got a call from then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi that the Barmer ticket was not in his hands and that there was a “conspiracy” of three persons — one from Jaipur and two from Delhi.
Manvendra went on to join the Congress in October 2018 and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Barmer-Jaisalmer in 2019 and the assembly election from Siwana in 2023. In 2018, he lost to Raje at Jhalarapatan assembly constituency.
Manvendra is said to be weighing his options about returning to the BJP now. “I was sent (by the Congress leadership) to contest from a seat (Siwana) which I was not interested in. So I don’t know whether I am wanted (in the Congress) or not. And so, whatever decision has to be taken regarding the future will only be taken in consultation with my supporters. It is also a fact that a majority of the supporters want me to rejoin the BJP. Majority of the supporters have stayed with the family from the time of BJP and later and their inputs are valuable to me. So, any decision will be taken along with them,” Singh told ThePrint.
Though officially the party has not said anything on the matter, party functionaries told ThePrint that ‘everything has a time in politics’.
“Jaswant Singh is a tall leader of the BJP. He might have contested independently but he didn’t join any other party. Just like Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, he is respected in the party and has a legacy which can’t be ignored. Especially in the Marwar region, he has considerable influence. Unhone development ki rajnitiy ki (He did politics of development) Even today people speak of him as a man focused on governance and development,” a BJP state functionary said.
Though in the past too, a few BJP leaders like Diya Singh posted on his birth and death anniversaries, a party functionary explained the difference in the ‘volume’ this time.
“Dekhiye vatavaran badal raha hai (read, Raje being sidelined and BJP being in power). The person who harassed him has been sidelined so it gives greater confidence to his supporters to express themselves more freely. So people are more vocal in expressing sentiments, which can be seen in terms of organising local level programmes or posting tributes and greetings regarding him,” the functionary said.
Another Rajasthan unit leader said that due to Singh’s influence in the Marwar region, all those who are preparing for the elections are ‘trying to appropriate his legacy’.
Among those who paid tributes to Jaswant Singh on Wednesday were BJP state president C.P. Joshi, BJP MP and Raje’s son Dushyant Singh, and senior leader Rajendra Rathore.
Rajasthan BJP spokesman Laxmikant Bhardwaj, however, sought to play it down, saying that there was nothing unusual about party leaders paying tributes to the veteran.
(Edited by Tony Rai)