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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001747 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL KDEM IN
SUBJECT: BJP EXPELS JASWANT SINGH -- INTERNAL STRIFE 
REACHES NEW PITCH 
 
REF: A. NEW DELHI 1620 
     ¶B. NEW DELHI 1401 
     ¶C. NEW DELHI 1319 
     ¶D. NEW DELHI 1285 
     ¶E. NEW DELHI 1278 
     ¶F. NEW DELHI 1226 
     ¶G. NEW DELHI 1163 
     ¶H. NEW DELHI 1030 
     ¶I. MUMBAI 32 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh 
became the latest victim of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 
infighting on August 19 when the party expelled him for his 
favorable depiction of Pakistani founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah 
in his latest book.  The decision to oust Jaswant Singh 
occurred on the opening morning of an important three-day 
party meeting.  It came only a few days after the party 
decided to remove former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasudhara 
Raje from a leadership position in the state.  Yet, for 
BJP-watchers, the most important event this week has been a 
TV interview in which the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) 
chief called for a generational change in the BJP, signaling 
a more active RSS role in rebuilding the BJP after its 
crushing defeat in the 2009 elections.  The problem for the 
RSS is that none of Delhi-based second tier leaders who 
qualify as the next generation have an RSS background.  Those 
with an RSS grounding are in the states - Narendra Modi in 
Gujrat, Shivraj Chauhan in Madhya Pradesh.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Internal struggles within the BJP reached a new level 
of intensity today when BJP President Rajnath Singh announced 
the expulsion of former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh from 
primary membership in the party for his positive portrayal of 
Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his book: "Jinnah - 
India, Partition, Independence."  The dismissal came on the 
opening day of the BJP's three-day "Introspection Meeting" in 
Shimla, called to discuss the causes of and response to the 
party's trouncing in the 2009 parliamentary elections. 
Jaswant Singh's latest book, released a few days ago, has 
attracted much media attention for its kind words for Jinnah 
("a great man") and its not so flattering assessment of 
Congress Party stalwarts Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel 
for acceding to demands for the division of the country in 
¶1947. 
 
¶3.  (U) The decision to oust Jaswant Singh took place at a 
heated meeting of the BJP's Parliamentary Board at the first 
sitting of the Shimla meetings.  Rajnath Singh had earlier 
disassociated the party from Singh's book, saying that it did 
not represent the party's view because: "The important role 
of M.A. Jinnah in the division of India, which led to 
dislocation and destabilization of millions of people, is 
well known.  We cannot wish away this painful part of our 
history."  Other BJP officials had also distanced themselves 
quickly from Jaswant, aware that partition and Jinnah are 
emotional issues within the party and its RSS base.  L.K. 
Advani had been pushed out of the party presidency in 2005 
after he made positive statements about Jinnah during a visit 
to Pakistan. 
 
¶4.  (U) Jaswant Singh responded by saying he was saddened at 
the action of the party of which he was a founding member and 
one that he had served faithfully and with dedication for 30 
years.  He told the press that BJP President Rajnath Singh 
had informed him of the decision over the phone.  He said he 
was pained that BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and L.K. Advani had 
not shown him the courtesy of conveying the decision to in 
person rather than over the phone.  Jaswant said he was 
especially aggrieved at the reason for his expulsion: "the 
day we start questioning thought and writing and reading will 
be the day we begin to enter a dark alley." 
 
¶5.  (U) BJP leader Balbir Punj agreed with most analysts who 
felt that censure of Jaswant Singh was inevitable after the 
book's content began to make its way into the press.  Punj 
 
NEW DELHI 00001747  002 OF 002 
 
 
underlined the long-held and firm position of the party that 
primary responsibility for partition lay with Jinnah-led 
Muslims and the British.  In his view, it is unacceptable to 
the party that one of its leaders would question this canon 
by exonerating Jinnah and shifting the blame to Nehru and 
Patel.  According to Punj, the most that Nehru and Patel 
could be criticized for is not resisting Jinnah and the 
British more firmly on the question of the division of India. 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Jaswant's expulsion is only the latest in a 
continuous stream of BJP discord, dissent, recrimination and 
finger-pointing that has played out publicly since the 
election results were announced in May.  However, the 
intensity of the dissonance has increased in the run-up to 
the Shimla meetings.  Earlier this week, a heated public row 
broke out over the party's decision to remove former 
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje as leader of the 
opposition in the state assembly.  Raje refused to accept the 
order, claiming that a majority of the party's legislators in 
the state assembly supported her.  To prove her point, she 
paraded these legislators in front of the media as they 
sought meetings with BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Rajnath 
Singh to press their case in favor of Raje. 
 
¶7.  (U) A meeting last week between Advani and RSS chief 
Mohan Bhagwat fueled excited speculation that the RSS had 
asked Advani to resign.  The RSS had to issue a statement 
refuting the story but in a TV interview on August 18, 
Bhagwat told Times Now that the RSS believes the BJP needs a 
generational change and a new cohort of leaders in the 50-60 
year age range.  His assessment was that the BJP had been 
jolted by the election results and lost its balance.  In his 
view, new leadership would help the party regain its legs. 
 
Comment: RSS Cracks the Whip 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The Bhagwat interview was surprising.  It is quite 
unusual for the RSS leadership to lecture the BJP so directly 
and publicly about operational and leadership issues.  The 
RSS has tried to maintain the public image that it is not a 
political organization and does not interfere in the 
decision-making and functioning of its political affiliate. 
There was no such pretence in Bhagwat's words and manner as 
he lectured the BJP on TV on what it needed to do.  RSS 
fingerprints also appear to be unmistakable in the banishing 
of Jaswant Singh and the sidelining of Raje.  Neither of them 
has a RSS background and both had thumbed their nose at the 
RSS when in positions of authority.  Their swift removal 
shows that it is much easier for the RSS to have its way with 
a weakened and convulsing BJP.  It will not be surprising if 
more RSS-inspired decisions emanate from the Shimla 
conference over the next two days.  The dilemma for the RSS 
in calling for generational change in the BJP is that none of 
the second tier of leaders in Delhi -- Arun Jaitley, Sushma 
Swaraj, Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha, Venkaiah Naidu -- have 
an RSS background and none are beholden to it.  Those with 
RSS grounding are in the states - Narendra Modi in Gujrat, 
Shivraj Chauhan in Madhya Pradesh. End Comment. 
ROEMER