Jaswant’s son resigns from BJP
Kamal ka phool hamari bhool thi, says Manvendra Singh
Jaipur: Former Union minister Jaswant Singh’s family has snapped ties with the BJP. Jaswant Singh’s son and BJP MLA from Sheo in Barmer district Manvendra Singh on Saturday resigned from the party. Mr Singh announced his decision during a ‘ Swabhiman Rally’ on Saturday.
The family of Jaswant Singh, the former Union minister and one of the founding members of BJP, has snapped ties with the party. His son and BJP MLA from Sheo in Barmer district, Manvendra Singh, quit the party on Saturday.
Manvendra Singh announced his decision in the ‘ Swabhiman Rally’ in Pachpadra on Saturday.
The rally was called after what was seen as a snub to him by chief minister Vasundhara Raje, who skipped the former’s Assembly constituency when she came to Barmer for her “Gaurav Yatra” earlier this month. Manvendra Singh too had skipped Ms Raje’s Gaurav Yatra.
The ties between Jaswant Singh’s family and Ms Raje strained during her first tenure as CM when the former’s wife, Sheetal, filed a police case against Ms Raje over a poster in which she was depicted as goddess Annapurna. Ms Raje hit back with a case against Jaswant Singh for organising ‘ Riyan’ ( a ritual in which opium laced milk is served to guests).
After a brief truce, the old wounds opened up in 2014, when Jaswant Singh was denied ticket by the party for the Barmer Lok Sabha seat. Ms Raje was suspected to have played the key role in it. An important leader during the Vajpayee era, Jaswant Singh contested the election as an independent candidate against BJP’s Colonel Sonaram Choudhary. However, he lost. Despite being a BJP MLA, Manvendra Singh had campaigned for his father.
“Kamal ka phool hamari bhool thi,” said Manvendra Singh, who was buoyed by the impressive turnout in the rally that mostly consisted of Jaswant Singh’s loyalists.
Though he did not clear his future course of action, it is speculated that he might join Congress after a meeting with Rahul Gandhi. The former Union minister and Mr Gandhi’s close confidant, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, is said to be working on this to win over the Rajputs in Marwar, who are presently not happy with BJP.
Jaswant Singh is not just respected by Rajputs; he has a huge fan following among the minorities in the border areas.
“My father may not be well but he still commands respect in Marwar. With his blessings, I will be successful in politics,” Manvendra Singh said.