Jaswant jolts BJP, says he'll file nomination today

New Delhi/Hubli:  There was further trouble for L.K. Advani loyalists on Sunday, with veteran leader Jaswant Singh threatening on Sunday that he would contest as an Independent from Barmer in Rajasthan, having been denied a ticket by his party. Yet another Advani acolyte, Harin Pathak, also made his displeasure known over being denied renomination from Ahmedabad (East), a Lok Sabha seat that he has represented seven times.

Mr Singh, overlooked by the party leadership over his claim to a ticket from Barmer, said on Sunday that he would file his nomination on Monday. This led to Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley taking a potshot at him, saying he (Mr Singh) should accept the party’s “no” with a smile after he had been showered with privileges and positions by the party, and that his loyalty “was on test”.

The fault lines in the BJP on the Jaswant Singh issue had been exposed on Saturday when Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj had said that she was “pained” by the party’s decision to not field Mr Singh from Barmer.

Mr Singh said he wasn’t resigning form the party yet and that he would consult party colleagues before taking such a step, He left open the possibility of his being expelled by the party. He also said that there was a need to differentiate between the “real BJP” and the “fake BJP”.