Old BJP warhorse Jaswant Singh files nomination: says, he was betrayed by Rajnath, Vasundhara

Barmer(Rajasthan): An emotional Jaswant Singh today lashed out at BJP president Rajnath Singh and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje alleging he was betrayed by both of them over the issue of nomination from Barmer seat. Addressing his supporters after filing his nomination as an independent candidate, Jaswant Singh alleged there was a "pre-planned conspiracy" to edge him out of the race by refusing him the party ticket. ''"First, they told me the list will be out on March 8, then it was shifted to 11th and 13th, and finally on 19th I found my name was not in the list. "I rang up Rajnath ji, who told me he would speak to me the next day. He told me the next day that I would not be given the ticket. He did not give the ticket to any BJP workers, he gave the ticket to a Congressman (Col. Sonaram Chaudhary), who till two months ago was abusing the BJP, and our people had defeated their people in the Assembly polls", said Jaswant Singh. "This is the second time I have been betrayed by Rajnath Singh. In 2009, soon after the elections, I was going to attend the party national executive meeting in Shimla, but was stopped midway by Rajnath ji, who asked me not to attend. Then he rang me up to say that I have been expelled from the party. I told him, even peons are not dismissed like this", said the former External Affairs Minister. "At that time, I was expelled because of my views on Mohammed Ali Jinnah in my book. I had written that it was Pandit Nehru who moved the Partition resolution in Congress, and Sardar Patel had seconded it. Though nobody in BJP had read that book, I was expelled"."Later, when Nitin Gadkari became president, he invited me to rejoin the party, and at that time my family told me why I was returning to a party which had disrespected me. I think there was some mistake in my thoughts that made me return to the BJP", he said. Jaswant Singh also lashed out at Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, saying that there was a time when he had proposed her name as chief minister, when Vajpayee and Advani consulted him and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. "This is the same Vasundhara who used to come to my home and sit with me to learn. I am pained that these two leaders betrayed me now", said Jaswant Singh. Earlier, before filing the nomination, Jaswant Singh was persuaded by RSS pointsman in the BJP, organising secretary Ram Lal over phone, but the former refused to accede to his request. Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, also tried to dissaude Jaswant Singh from filing his nomination but failed. BJP sources in New Delhi said, the party leadership would now take action against Jaswant Singh and Subhash Mahariya, former minister, who has filed his nomination as independent from Sikar. If expelled, this will be the second time Jaswant Singh will be expelled from BJP. He was expelled from the party on July 16, 2009, when he had written a book "Jinnah: India-Partition, Independence" praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Even the Congress jumped into the fray by offering to give its symbol to Jaswant Singh, but the latter, a diehard BJP loyalist, refused.