Ahead of Rajasthan polls, Jaswant Singh, son Manvendra quit BJP
The ties between Jaswant Singh's family and Vasundhara Raje strained during her first tenure as CM.
Jaipur: Former union minister and one of the founding members of the BJP, Jaswant Singh’s family has snapped ties with the party. Jaswant Singh’s son and BJP MLA from Sheo in Barmer district Manvendra Singh today quit the party.
Manvendra announced his decision in ‘swabhiman rally’ in Pachpadra on Saturday. The rally was called after what was seen as a snub to him by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje who skipped Manvendra’s assembly constituency when she came to Barmer for her ‘Gaurav Yatra’ early this month.
Manvendra Singh too had skipped Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's Gaurav Yatra in Barmer and Pachpadra earlier this month.
The ties between Jaswant Singh’s family and Raje strained during her first tenure as CM when the former’s wife Sheetal had filed a police case against Raje over a poster in which she was depicted as goddess Annapurna.
Raje hit back with a case against Jaswant Singh for organising ‘Riyan’ (a ritual in which opium-laced milk is served to guests).
After a brief truce, the old wounds opened up in 2014, when Jaswant Singh was denied ticket by the party for Barmer Lok Sabha seat. Raje was suspected to have played the key role in it.
A key leader during the Vajpayee era, Jaswant Singh contested the election as an independent candidate against the BJP's Colonel Sonaram Choudhary. However, he lost. Manvendra despite being BJP MLA had campaigned for his father.
"Kamal ka phool hamari bhool thi,” said Manvendra who was buoyed by the impressive turnout in the rally that mostly consisted of Jaswant Singh’s loyalists.
“Self-respect is must; one cannot work in politics by compromising honour,” he said.
Though, he did not comment on his future course of action. It is speculated that he might join the Congress after a meeting with Rahul Gandhi.
Former union minister and Rahul’s close confident Bhanwar Jitendra Singh is said to be working on this to win over the Rajputs in Marwar who are presently not happy with the BJP.
Jaswant Singh is not just respected by Rajputs but has a huge fan following among minorities in border areas. “My father may not be well but he still commands respect in Marwar. With his blessings, I will be successful in politics,” Manvendra said.
His wife Chitra Singh who had gone door to door to invite people for the rally said, “People are angry and upset; their demands have not been met. Farmers are angry. It's not about the dignity of my family but about the self-respect of the people of this entire region.”
The rally was also attended by Sri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena’s president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi and mother of gangster Anandpal Singh who had been killed in a police encounter last year.