Former Union minister Jaswant Singh on Thursday formally returned to the Bharatiya Janata Party, ten months after he was summarily expelled for praising Pakistan founder M A Jinnah in his book.Singh was welcomed back to the BJP by senior leader L K Advani and party president Nitin Gadkari. Gadkari had met Jaswant in New Delhi last week before leaving for the party national executive in Patna to discuss his entry into the party.
During Vajpayee's tenure, he was there as an indispensable insider, witness to every action that had an impact on history: Pokhran-II (nuclear tests in 1998), the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indo-Pak Agra Summit in 2001, intense engagement with the United States on nuclear issues besides the Kandahar hijack.
In a sudden development, senior Parliamentarian Jaswant Singh has resigned as chairman of the prestigious Public Accounts Committee, which he had refused to quit when he had a bitter parting of ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party four months ago. His resignation raised questions on whether there was any possibility of a rapprochement with the BJP, but the 71-year-old leader ruled that out, saying he did not take the action under 'any pressure' or with 'some calculation'.
Accusing the Left Front government in West Bengal of ignoring Darjeeling Hills, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Friday demanded the creation of a separate Gorkhaland. Singh also demanded more funds under the Cyclone Aila package. Initiating a debate on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha, the Darjeeling Member of Parliament wondered, "What wrong have the Gorkhas done not to deserve a separate state."
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav will contest from Jodhpur and Manvendra from Barmer.
'Shivaji and Sambhaji followed the gospel of humanity. 'They did not discriminate based on religion, caste, or colour.' 'That is the beauty of Shivaji and Sambhaji's Hindvi Swaraj.'
Jaswant Singh, the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and former minister for external affairs
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Sunday met party patriarch L K Advani, who is sulking after Narendar Modi was named the party's prime ministerial candidate.
A Delhi court has convicted former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar of murder in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The court found that Kumar was part of an unlawful assembly that killed the victims and is guilty of the murders of Jaswant Singh and Tarundeep Singh. Kumar now faces a maximum of the death penalty and a minimum of life in prison. The court rejected Kumar's argument that the statement of the complainant couldn't be trusted, as she named him belatedly and held at the time of the incident she was not aware of the identity of the accused as she was admittedly new to the area and had never seen him earlier. The court also found the other residents of the locality were reluctant to come forward to aid the victims at the time of the incident, leading to the conclusion that they would also not support the victims' version in court.
Jaswant has said that since the PM was a senior minister in that cabinet, he should address the issue.
Singh has said that someone leaked India's secrets to the US.
The numbers are loaded against him but the BJP's vice presidential candidate Jaswant Singh has his eyes set on battles beyond. Neerja Chowdhury provides an insight
The government on Tuesday told the Rajya Sabha that Unit Trust of India, the country's largest mutual fund, is on a revival path and its units have started fetching a premium.
Darjeeling Member of Parliament and expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh raised the demand for creation of Gorkhaland state in the Lok Sabha, on Monday, saying the people of the region were already "emotionally separated" from rest of West Bengal.
It was good fortune for India to have Atal Bihari Vajpayee lead the government at a crucial moment in our history. He avoided India meeting the fate of Iraq or Ukraine, asserts military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh, whose book eulogising Mohd Ali Jinnah has come under attack from BJP and the Sangh parivar, was on Wednesday expelled from the BJP.
Jaswant Singh, former external affairs in the National Democratic Alliance government, while taking a dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for telling American president George Bush how much Indians loved him, said that none of the preceeding prime ministers had ever made such a comment.
It was alleged that Singh welcomed the guests by offering them opium diluted in water, a charge denied by him. A local resident Om Prakash Vishnoi, through his counsel Malam Singh Choudhary, filed the complaint before the special judge, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act cases, under various sections of the law.
'Ajit Doval said, "They are threatening us now".'
74-year-old Singh, whose candidature was declared by NDA on July 16, filed his papers before Returning Officer T K Viswanathan, who is the Lok Sabha Secretary General.
Singh, the Finance Minister in the National Democratic Alliance regime, was heading the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue of limited mobility and unified licencing during the relevant period.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh tells Aditi Phadnis about his fears for India, various policies and stance taken by the government and the global environment.
Six months after his expulsion from the Bharatiya Janata Party was revoked, senior leader Jaswant Singh has been entrusted the task of maintaining contact and improving relations with other political parties.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has said the country's economy is poised for rapid, broad-based expansion and a second revolution in agricultural productivity.
BJP sources said that the party leadership is working out a formula for his return and a decision could be made any time.
Mohammed Ali Jinnah did not win Pakistan as Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel 'conceded' Pakistan to the Quaid-e-Azam, with the British acting as an ever helpful midwife, claims senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh.In his new book Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence, which will hit the stands on August 17, he recalls the events leading to the Partition as well as the "epic journey of Jinnah".
The official said Sukhvinder's brother Satpal possibly transferred Rs 2.50 lakh from Canada to his cousin Jitu Singh alias Jita in Gwalior to facilitate the November 7 killing.
The National Democratic Alliance could not have got a candidate for vice-presidential poll with more gravitas than Jaswant Singh, a former army officer who has headed finance, defence and external affairs ministries, authored books and even served as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
Former Union Minister Jaswant Singh and nine other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are likely to get a clean chit in the case of serving opium, with the Rajasthan police deciding to file a report in court saying that the allegations against them have not been established.
Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Friday met L K Advani at his residence, raising speculation over the move.
The accused were also allegedly involved in the recent murder of another person in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior.
Congress seeks to turn tables on Jaswant Singh
'The greatness of India can be experienced by meeting Indians on the frontiers of India.' 'Every citizen on the border is a soldier'
"Special Judge of NDPS Court, Jodhpur has admitted my complaint and sent it under section 156/3 of CrPC for investigation to the police station in Balotra area of Barmer district," Malam Singh Choudhary, counsel for complainant Omprakash Bishnoi, said. It was contended on behalf of the complainant that on October 31, Jaswant Singh had organised a social function traditionally called 'riyan' at his ancestral house near Jasol during which opium was illegally served.
For Jaswant Singh, the Jinnah controversy and his subsequent expulsion from the BJP is a validation of his beliefs.
However, it was only in May 2023 that the central probe agency the CBI filed a chargesheet against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler for his alleged role in the killings of three people on November 1, 1984.
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