Jaswant Singh should have accepted party decision: Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: Jaswant Singh should have accepted the decision of not fielding him from Barmer in Rajasthan as the issue of ticket could not be the yardstick of his "value" in the party, according to BJP President Rajnath Singh.

Singh, while rejecting the perception that senior leaders were being sidelined in the party, said the services of experienced and senior leaders would be utilised even if they did not get the chance to contest the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

"Absolutely nobody is being sidelined. If somebody did not get ticket, it doesn't mean he has no value in the party. He can be given position in Parliament, Assembly or party. Also if the government is formed, there can be positions in institutions," the BJP chief told PTI.

His attention was drawn to Jaswant Singh, who quit the party after he was denied ticket from Barmer, and asked whether his decision to resign was wrong.

"It would have been better if he had accepted the party's decision. Till you get a ticket, you accept the party's decision and when you don't, then you don't accept the decision. This should not happen," he said.

In an apparent message to Jaswant Singh, he said, "One should practice politics of principles and ideology."

Jaswant Singh, a former External Affairs Minister, had expressed his desire to contest from Barmer but the party gave the ticket to former Congress member Sonaram Chaudhary, who joined BJP recently. Jaswant then quit the party and entered the poll fray as an Independent.