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Namo,Namo slogan reminds me of 1975 Emergency: Jaswant Singh

Singh also accuses Rajnath Singh and Vasundhara Raje of 'betraying' him

Press Trust of India Barmer
Defying the party, Jaswant Singh today filed his nomination from Barmer Lok Sabha constituency as an Independent and launched a veiled attack on Narendra Modi saying the "Namo-Namo tamasha" and the decision-making process in BJP shows the "arrogance" of the Emergency era.

He also attacked party president Rajnath Singh and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, accusing them of "betraying" him and fielding a defector from Congress Col Sonaram Chaudhury.

"The Namo-Namo tamasha, the decision-making process (in BJP) reminds me of 1975. There is more of arrogance and less of taking everyone along," Singh told a press conference shortly after he filed four sets of nomination papers before the collector, who is also the returning officer.
 
After deying the party which decided not to give him ticket from Barmer, the 76-year-old leader said it was for the party to decide whether he should continue in it or not. "They can sack me," he said.

Sounding bitter, Singh, one of the founders of BJP, said the denial of ticket was a "huge humiliation" for workers in the constituency.

"I was informed by Rajnath Singh over telephone it (ticket from Barmer) is not possible," he said.

"Who are the people who have hurt you? One is the BJP President who has hit me for the second time. The conspiracy was hatched by Vasundhara Raje.

"I say with regret and pain that these two persons have sort of betrayed me, cheated me. The betrayal is not with Jaswant Singh alone but with BJP's principles and ideologies," he said while addressing his supporters after filing the nomination.

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First Published: Mar 24 2014 | 6:28 PM IST

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