BJP, Jaswant face off on PAC post likely

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seemed to be heading towards a confrontation with its former senior leader, Jaswant Singh, over his refusal to step down from the prestigious post of chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, even after being expelled from the opposition party.

Jaswant Singh, who was expelled from the BJP after a 30-year stint, for his book ‘Jinnah- India, Partition, Independence’ today told journalists he would not resign from the post at any cost.

This is what he had also told Sushma Swaraj, deputy leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and and S S Ahluwalia, general secretary, BJP, on Monday, when they had visited him and tried to persuade him to resign.

BJP sources said Swaraj and Ahluwalia had put the issue of propriety before Singh and asked him to yield and avoid an ugly confrontation between the party and him in the next session. Later, a meeting between L K Advani, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Speaker Meira Kumar had fuelled speculation on whether the BJP had formally asked for Singh’s sacking.

Formally, it is the Speaker who appoints chairmen of parliamentary committess, after the respective parties forward the names of their nominees. The term of the appointment is one year and the chairmanship of the PAC almost always goes to the principal opposition party. In this case, BJP leaders argue that Jaswant Singh, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Darjeeling, was made chairman of the PAC in his capacity as the senior-most leader of the opposition, a position he no longer enjoys after his expulsion from the party. 

Jaswant Singh would have to be identified as an “unattached” member of Lok sabha.

“Party politics is the essence of parliamentary democracy and if Jaswant Singh is allowed to flout the norm, he would be damaging a bigger cause,” a senior party leader said. Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad had earlier said that BJP expected Jaswant Singh to quit the parliamentary panel post on the grounds of “morality”.