Jaswant refuses to step down as PAC chairman

Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Tuesday rejected the party's demand to step down as chairman of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, saying a decision on this could be taken only by the Lok Sabha Speaker and not by the party.

The party had demanded Singh to step down last week.

"I am not. This cannot be a decision that the party can take because the determination of the post and the decision is that of the Lok Sabha Speaker and not of a political party," Jaswant told reporters in the Supreme Court premises.

Jaswant also ended the speculations about his return to BJP. "You don't have to worry about it. The roads are closed," he said, when asked about the possibility of his getting back to the party.

His remarks comes a day after senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj conveyed to him the party's wish that he step down as PAC chairman.

Jaswant, being the senior-most of the three BJP MPs nominated to the PAC from the party, was appointed the chairperson of the committee. The other two BJP members are Yashwant Sinha and Gopinath Munde. As per convention, the chairpersonship of the PAC was given to BJP as it is the main opposition party.