Jaswant attacks BJP leadership

“The party has done this to me twice now and now there is no chance of accepting any alternative proposal,” he said in comments that came as party President Rajnath Singh and senior leader Arun Jaitley spoke of utilising Singh's services in an appropriate manner.

He recalled the contributions of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani in building the party and wondered where the party is going now.  A close associate of Vajpayee as well as Advani, whose influence has also waned in the party, he said it is important for the subscribers of the philosophy of BJP to know who has “encroached” on it.

“They should ask where is the party going.” Singh, who would be reaching Barmer tomorrow, refused to disclose his plans on whether he would be filing his nomination as an independent.

“Everything will be decided only after I reach Barmer and have a discussion with my supporters,” he said.  Referring to the denial of ticket to him and the “disregarding” of other senior leaders in the party, Singh said that “this party of ideology is tragically being encroached upon by those, who have been arch detractors of BJP's ideology.”

“It is so unfortunate that the BJP has been completely taken over by the elements (outsiders), who never have any respect for party's ideology”, he said.

Opposing giving tickets to those who have recently joined the party either as defectors or as new entrants in politics, Singh remarked sarcastically that “for them it is easy to have a BJP ticket than to have a rail or a flight.”

His earlier three terms in Lok Sabha have been from Jodhpur, Chittorgarh (Rajasthan) and Darjeeling (West Bengal).  Singh turned emotional as he spoke of his “pain” but made it clear that he does not want to do the “politics” of emotions.