Jaswant Singh might quit BJP soon

theindianrepublic.com, Saturday, 22 March 2014 12:55 New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh, who was denied a BJP ticket from Barmer constituency in Rajasthan might contest from the same constituency as an independent candidate.

Upset over not being allowed to contest upcoming Lok Sabha polls from his home constituency, Jaswant Singh might resign from the BJP soon. My honour cannot be subject to trading.” He broke down while speaking and added that “there has been encroachment on the principles and ideologies of the BJP.”

Jaswant Singh has been highly annoyed for not being considered from the Rajasthan’s Barmer seat. He is slated to come to Barmer in a couple of days and seek feedback from local supporters and leaders before filing his nomination papers.

According to sources, if Jaswant Singh is given a go-ahead by his supporters, he might contest the elections. Jaswant Singh represented Darjeeling in the outgoing 15th Lok Sabha.

Jaswant Singh wanted to fight election from Barmer this time, but the party fielded Colonel Sonaram, who recently switched to the BJP from the Congress. After strong protests from a number of BJP party workers against the denial of BJP ticket to Jaswant Singh, a meeting had been held at the residence of Manvendra Singh, former union minister on Friday night.

Jaswant Singh’s supporters in Barmer have formulated a strategy to field him as an independent. A number of workers carried out a protest rally burning effigies of Rajasthan CM, Vasundhara Raje, while holding her responsible for denial of the ticket to Jaswant Singh. They also shouted slogans against her.

A local BJP leader said that Colonel Sonaram has been with the Congress for years now, which is a suddent switching of loyalties. Fielding him immediately after joining BJP has sent a wrong message to the voters. He should have made to work in the organisation at least for some years before he was given such an opportunity said the local BJP leader.

If Jaswant Singh decides to contest, he may upset the equations against Sonaram as there are at least 1.5 lakh Rajput voters in Barmer constituency. Voting for the 25 parliamentary constituencies in the state will take place April 17 and 24. In the last elections in 2009, the Congress won 20 seats and the BJP four, while one seat was won by an Independent.

Jaswant Singh hails from Jasol village in Barmer district and used to be a member fo the union cabinet during the reign of the NDA government.