Barring the formality of an announcement, the return of senior leader Jaswant Singh to the Bharatiya Janata Party is certain.
Ahead of the party's Patna conclave BJP president Nitin Gadkari had met Mr. Singh. However, to use Mr. Singh's words, “some distance” remained to be covered. Almost a week later, the deal seems to be done. It is expected that when Mr. Gadkari returns to the capital next week — he has gone to Mumbai — a formal announcement will be made.
Asked about Mr. Singh's homecoming, senior general secretary Ananth Kumar said on Tuesday: “You will get to know when the announcement is made.”
Mr. Singh, who represents Darjeeling in the 15th Lok Sabha, was summarily expelled after some senior party leaders objected to his views on Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in a biography authored by him. His expulsion came at the BJP's ‘chintan baithak' in Shimla soon after the party's defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
The demand for his ouster was led by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who alleged that there were derogatory references to India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in his book and it would be difficult for him to explain this away to the people of Gujarat. With several party leaders asking for his expulsion and senior leader L.K. Advani acquiescing by his silence, then party president Rajnath Singh signed off the order expelling Mr. Singh without giving him even a show-cause notice.
Ten months later, there are many leaders in the party who feel gross injustice was done to him. Mr. Gadkari had also announced his intention of trying to “bring home” some leaders who had parted company but had continued to believe in the party's ideology.
Uma Bharti's return to the party has been held up as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and the State unit are opposed to her coming back, fearing she would interfere in the State's political affairs.
