Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh meets Advani

Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Friday met L K Advani at his residence, raising speculation over the move.

Sources said the former minister, who had unsuccessfully contested against the official BJP nominee from Barmer, spent about 30 minutes with the BJP patriarch. Sources close to Advani termed it merely as a ‘courtesy’ meeting as the two have shared good relations in the past.

Jaswant had expressed sadness over his expulsion after he refused to withdraw his candidature against the party’s official candidate Col Sonaram Chowdhury in Barmer. He lost by a margin of 87,461 votes.

While speculation is rife over Jaswant’s re-entry into the party, sources said that Singh is also discussing the political future of his son Manvendra, who is a sitting member of the legislative assembly in Rajasthan but has been suspended.

Manvendra has also been removed from the membership of the BJP National Executive following reports that he was campaigning against the party’s official candidate in Barmer. Manvendra campaigned for his father following which Jaswant had termed the action against his son as ‘revenge’. “This kind of step has been taken with the intention of taking revenge. This is condemnable because he (Manavendra) is here for so many days and I never used to meet him fearing what the party will think about it. Injustice has been done surely,” he had said after his son was suspended in April.