Jaswant Singh likely to visit Pak in Oct to launch his book

September 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Former vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Thursday came out in support of expelled Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh and questioned the party's decision. "The way Jaswant was treated was not good.

September 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on Thursday said the decision to expel Jaswant Singh was wrong. "The way Jaswant Singh has been treated, I do not approve of it," Shekhawat said.

September 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - As Jaswant Singh chaired the meeting of the Public Account Committee on Monday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in a tizzy, and Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj has made a public appeal to the expelled leader to step down from the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee urging him 'to keep up to the parliamentary tradition', but Jaswant Singh has refused to budge. Six members of the BJP - NDA combine who are part of the Committee have boycotted today the PAC meet chaired by Jaswant Singh.

September 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Indian government has allowed expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh to visit Pakistan Sep 26 to promote his book Jinnah: India, Partition and Independence, a media report said. He will arrive in Karachi Sep 26, before heading to the Pakistani capital Sep 27 to attend a launching ceremony of the book at the Islamabad Press Club.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj Monday met expelled leader Jaswant Singh at his residence here. Sources close to Jaswant Singh said Swaraj, the deputy leader in the Lok Sabha had sought an appointment in the morning, but refused to divulge details of their meeting.

August 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh on Tuesday invited Former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, who was expelled from the BJP for his remarks on Mohammad Ali Jinnah, to join his party. Talking to a private news channel, Amar Singh said that Jaswant Singh was welcome in his party.

August 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Sharad Yadav leader of Janata Dal (United), an ally of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said that he disapproved of the ban imposed on the book written by former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, 'Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence'. "In a democracy, there should not be a ban on any kind of writing, speech and expression.

August 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Former Bharatiya Janata Party ideologue K N Govindacharya on Monday joined the bandwagon of critics over the Jaswant Singh dismissal issue. "The manner in which Jaswant Singh was expelled does not behove of a political party...

August 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Jaswant Singh episode shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is collapsing due to its "internal contradictions" following the Lok Sabha drubbing, the Congress said Saturday. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told IANS: "The whole episode of Jaswant Singh shows that after rejection by the people the BJP is collapsing now because of its internal contradictions." "The way the party is going into the hands of hardliners will further reduce its base, he said.

August 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Former union minister Jaswant Singh Thursday said he had stood with L.K. Advani, who nearly resigned as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president in the wake of internal criticism for praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah during his visit to Pakistan in 2005.

August 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI -Lord Meghnad Desai, noted economist and professor emeritus of the London School of Economics, Wednesday hit out at the BJP for expelling Jaswant Singh, saying it was a bad move and the party had made a "fool of itself". It is a very bad move by the BJP for it shows how intolerant the party has become, Lord Desai, who was presented the launch of Jaswant Singh's book, told IANS in the capital.

August 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior leader Jaswant Singh has been expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for his book praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, but this is not the first time his writings have touched off controversy. In his previous book titled "A Call to Honour: In Service of Emergent India in 2006", he alleged that there was a mole in the Prime Minister's Office in the nineties during the tenure of P.V.

August 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) -- the ideological fountainhead of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- Monday said it did not agree with the views of senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh on his eulogy of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan. Eulogising the founder of Pakistan in his book "Jinnah -- India, Participation, Independence", Jaswant Singh has said Jinnah was "demonised" by India while it was actually India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's belief in a centralised polity that led to partition.

April 9th, 2009 SILIGURI - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh on Thursday filed nomination from Darjeeling for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Jaswant Singh was accompanied by Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung, his wife Sheetal Kumari and his secretary Colonel Bhawani Singh.

April 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh will contest from Darjeeling in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The announcement was made by party president Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.