It was RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s candid interview with Arnab Goswami which triggered Jaswant Singh’s expulsion. Bhagwat, apart from taking a dig or two at Advani, also snubbed Rajnath Singh by conceding that Rajnath would be stepping down as party president by the year-end. Rajnath had hoped that because of the disarray in the party he could swing another term as president, even though this is in violation of the party constitution. Bhagwat’s criticism of the BJP’s inability to tackle factionalism struck a raw nerve. Rajnath was already insecure because Rajasthan opposition leader Vasundara Raje had defied his diktat to step down. The party president felt he needed to assert his authority and earn brownie points with the RSS. He saw in Jaswant Singh an ideal opportunity to demonstrate that he was no lame duck president.

The decision to expel Singh was ratified by the parliamentary board. The fact that not one of his colleagues came to Singh’s defence, at least to suggest that natural justice demanded that he be given a show cause first, reflects Singh’s unpopularity among his peers and the extent to which all senior BJP personnel are intimidated by the RSS. L.K. Advani, who had himself once got into hot water for his views on Jinnah, remained silent. Even before Singh’s letter rebellion, Advani was cut up with him. On the day of the election results, a leading industrialist had flown to Delhi and met Advani to lobby on behalf of Singh for the post of leader of the opposition. This was a job Advani wanted for himself.

... contd.