A day after he was expelled from the BJP on charges of indiscipline, Jaswant Singh on Sunday lashed out at the party, saying it had lost its vision and frittered away its virtues for temporary political gains by heeding to “petty whims” of individuals.
Singh said the BJP was no longer what its founders envisioned and there is “total confusion” between values, norms and unacceptable shortcuts. “A party that cannot afford its most loyal adherents even the very basic courtesies, puts petty whims of individuals before the greater good of the people has certainly lost its vision and frittered away its virtues for temporary political gains. To what end, only time will tell,” said Singh.
Defending his decision to contest against “a Congress defector with questionable public record”, Singh said the election in the segment exemplified how the values which the BJP stood for were being destroyed under the garb of “party discipline”.
“This election in Barmer-Jaisalmer constituency very sadly exemplifies how these values are being perverted, indeed almost destroyed under the false pretense of party discipline, commitment to individuals rather than issues and principles, depressingly blatant disguising of facts and total confusion between values, norms and unacceptable short cuts,”he said.
“Because this decision lacks transparency, honesty and courtesy of appropriate communication, I am obliged to question it,” Singh said, adding that he would have supported any committed BJP member as a candidate from Barmer.
The State unit, led by Vasundhara Raje, wanted him to rope in Jat votes. “The party selected a candidate with a questionable public record who barely a day earlier had quit the Congress. To cover this decision, the party cast doubts over my winnability and discredited my record be it over Ashok Gehlot in 1989 or twice in Chhittorgarh or most recently in Darjeeling.
“The party cited caste equation the defector belongs to but I don’t subscribe to any caste and never have,” Singh said, adding he needed to put the Barmer election in perspective.
