Jaswant saddened by expulsion

Agencies

Shimla: "I am sad and regretful," said BJP leader Jaswant Singh on Wednesday shortly after getting a phone call from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh that he had been expelled from the primary membership of the party.
"I am sad. There are many reasons. I will not go into details for everything but will say that it would have been better if Mr L.K. Advani or Mr Rajnath Singh had told me personally rather than informing me over phone," he said.
Jaswant Singh, who has written a book on Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, said he got a call at 1 pm from Rajnath Singh.

"If this was the decision, it would have been better if I had been told in Delhi not to come to Shimla. I have been a member of the BJP since it was formed (in 1980). I am thankful to party for giving me responsibilities earlier," he said.

The expelled BJP leader further said: "I am being expelled from the party for writing a book. BJP did not follow procedures; they should have issued show cause notice," he added, wondering what would happen if "soch, vichar and chintan" (thinking and introspection) stopped in Indian politics.