New Delhi, June 26: Re-inducted into the BJP after a 10-month exile, senior leader Jaswant Singh said he was happy and relieved to be back in the party that he had served since it was founded. However, he maintained that his views on Jinnah remained unchanged.
“The book (Jinnah — India, Partition, Independence) stands where it is. My views remain the same,” Singh said, hours after his formal re-entry into the BJP. “How can I disown what I have written myself,” he said.
Singh’s views on Jinnah had led the BJP to summarily expel him at the Chintan Baithak in Shimla last August. On the other hand, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had banned the book on the ground that it made an unfair assessment of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
“The ban on the book was thrown out by the High Court. There is now a Gujarati edition also,” said Singh today. “I think injustice was done to me then. This is not merely because I am saying so, but because it was a viewpoint that was conveyed to me by many in the BJP’s rank and file. Many leaders called me up even after I was ousted from the party,” he said, while refraining from listing any names.
Singh rejoined the party in the presence of party chief Nitin Gadkari, L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj. Welcoming him back to the BJP, Advani said: “With happiness, there is also a sense of relief.”
Making it clear that the Jinnah episode is a closed chapter, Gadkari said the “past is past” and hoped that Singh would guide the party. While he did not announce any post for him, Gadkari said Singh would be a member of the party’s national executive.
Singh revealed on Thursday that Gadkari had called on him a few days after becoming BJP president. “He told me that he had come to seek my blessings. I would like to place this on the record,” he said. “I wondered why he came to seek the blessings of a sinner,” he added.
However, he made it known that it was Advani who had expressed his desire to have him back in the party. “Advaniji took the initiative by calling me up a few months ago and saying he would like to talk. I was humbled. That is how it started,” he said, adding that he was indebted to both Advani and Gadkari for their graciousness and courtesy. “Advani said can we treat…
–Agencies–