Jaswant violated party discipline and beliefs: Jaitley

SHIMLA: Rejecting criticism against his summary expulsion, BJP on Thursday said that what Jaswant Singh wrote in his book on M A Jinnah and Sardar Patel were "directly opposed" to its core ideology and constituted a grave indiscipline.

"The BJP Constitution says that the Parliamentary Board has powers in all matters of indiscipline and to decide the procedure and the action in such cases," senior party leader Arun Jaitley told a press conference defending the summary expulsion without and show cause notice.

All the political parties have adopted such a course of action in such situations, he said citing the example of summary expulsion of leaders who contest against the party in elections.

Replying to questions, Jaitley sought to make a distinction between Singh's views on Jinnah and what was said by senior leader L K Advani in 2005 during his visit to Pakistan.

"There is a basic difference between what the two leaders have said. What Advani said was a tactical reference to Jinnah's speech in Pakistan's constituent assembly to tell the people of Pakistan what situation they have come to.

"But to say that Jinnah was demonised in India, that Indian Muslims feel as aliens in the country and to denigrate Sardar Patel goes against the national consensus and party's core beliefs," Jaitley said.