Jaswant Singh’s closeness to Vajyapee and LK Advani ensured that his talents were recognized.
New Delhi:
Former Union Minister Jaswant Singh, who died today in Delhi at the age of 82, had quit a career in the military to join politics. A former student of Mayo College in Ajmer, he made a course correction because he felt he would not be able to make a difference in the military.
Leaving his post in the Central India Horse – an armored regiment – he contested his first election as an independent member of Osian from Rajasthan – near his hometown of Jasol. But he never looked back after entering national politics in the 1980s. He won four elections in Lok Sabha and served as a member of the Rajya Sabha for five terms.
It was his stint in the home of former royals in Jodhpur, which put him in touch with the state’s emerging political leaders like Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The turning point in his political career came when he met Atal Bihari Vayjpayee in the 1970s through Sardar Angre, a close associate of Vijayraje Scindia.
Their friendship lasted a lifetime. Both shared a taste for literary things, and those close to Jaswant Singh recall how he and Vajpayee spent evenings together sharing common interests – politics, prose and foreign affairs. Manvendra, the son of Jaswant Singh, recalled in an article how his father was often called “Atalji’s Hanuman”.
Jaswant Singh had no RSS experience. But his closeness to Vajyapee and LK Advani made sure his talents were recognized.
In the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh served as Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense. He was vice-chairman of the Planning Commission, leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha and deputy leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was instrumental in defending India’s arguments for the removal of US sanctions after the Pokhran nuclear tests. Singh shared a close personal friendship with Madeline Albright, US Secretary of State in the Clinton administration.
But during his tenure, Singh was also criticized for handling the Kandhar hijacking episode after the Indian government freed terrorists like Masood Azhar to secure the release of Air India passengers held hostage. Jaswant had taken a flight to the Afghan town to bring back the hostages.
A founding member of the BJP, Jaswant Singh would not hesitate to express opinions that do not correspond to the ideology of the party. His book “Jinnah: India Partition Independence” published in 2009, which praised Jinnah and blamed Congress for the partition is one example. Instead of Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, Jaswant Singh blamed the score on Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel.
Party insiders say the leader, who backed LK Advani in the Jinnah controversy, was disappointed when Advani did not reciprocate.
But he never backtracked and the great controversy that followed led to Jaswant Singh’s expulsion.
At the party’s national executive meeting in Shimla, the party came under pressure from Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, who said Vallabhbhai Patel was an iconic figure. The government of Gujarat had banned Jaswant Singh’s book.
At the time, Jaswant Singh was the Member of Parliament for Darjeeling. He was sent to contest the election from the hill district of Bengal, far from his native Rajasthan, as his military background has gone well with the Gorkha electorate in the constituency. The Gorkhas have been at odds with the government of Bengal for decades over their demand to become a state.
In his book, Jaswant Singh also claimed that Vajpayee wanted to fire Narendra Modi as chief minister of Gujarat, but was arrested by LK Advani.
He also claimed that after the riots in Gujarat, Vajpayee wanted to step down as prime minister, but withdrew after Singh held his hand and stopped him from writing his resignation letter.
In 2014, Jaswant Singh made his last break with the BJP after being refused a ticket from the headquarters of Barmer Lok Sabha. One section claimed that the refusal was given at the request of Vasundhara Raje, then chief minister who also headed the party.
Jaswant Singh fought as an independent, winning over 4 lakh, but edged out Colonel Sonaram Chaudhary of the BJP, who won by around 87,000 votes. Congress, which now runs the state, came third in this election.
Shortly after the May election, Jaswant Singh fell into his Delhi residence in August and fell into a coma. He had since been treated at the Army Research and Reference Hospital.
An academic and diplomat with a keen interest in military and foreign affairs, Jaswant Singh is the author of more than eight books. His book “A Call to Honor” sparked controversy when he wrote about a mole in Narasimha Rao government in 1995, which caused the government not to go ahead with its plan to go nuclear. under pressure from the United States.
Jassu, as his friends affectionately called him, will be remembered as a man of letters, a rare combination of a politician who has never shied away from expressing opinions that may have been divergent from those of his party.
