Manvendra Singh quit the BJP on Saturday. (Facebook)
BJP MLA from Rajasthan Manvendra Singh on Saturday said he was leaving the BJP for self-respect and pride, as the party’s top leadership had failed to allay his concerns or stop harassment of his supporters at the behest of the party’s state leadership.
The MLA from Sheo said, “People have been asking me about my decision on continuing in BJP). I have been telling them that it will be whatever swabhimaani (self-respecting) janta decide.” Singh then exhorted the audience “whatever decision you take will be my decision”, and his supporters chanted “Kamal ka phool, badi bhool”. Singh repeated the chant. “The decision you have taken is my decision… This campaign will continue and swabhimaan will win,” he said at a Swabhimaan rally in Pachpadra.
Singh, whose ailing father Jaswant Singh held various portfolios in the Vajpayee government, said, “We were patient, and a lot of workers suffered and were harassed. From people holding small positions to officers, none was spared because of (present state dispensation’s spite for) me. But they did bear it because swabhimaan runs through their veins.”
“I have never shared these things publicly. I have shared them only with top leaders, be it the Prime Minister or (BJP) national president… But when decision-makers, and people holding such posts, give such decisions a miss, or sidestep them, then there is a limit to patience. And today that limit ends,” he declared.
He alleged there was a conspiracy behind denying a Lok Sabha ticket to his father in 2014, and his swabhimaan has been under attack since then. “Today, there is a need to disclose a few things… The government’s rule is that whoever bothers the state government, their phone is tapped, CID follows them,” he alleged.
The family’s ties with the Chief Minister and BJP worsened after the party denied ticket to Jaswant Singh from Barmer Jaisalmer constituency in 2014. Manvendra was suspended from the party for campaigning for his father in that election, in which Jaswant fought against the BJP candidate. Manvendra continued to represent Sheo constituency as a BJP MLA.
Singh’s move assumes significance as the Congress has been trying to strengthen its support base among Rajputs. Jaswant Singh, say political observers, is regarded as a top leader among the community, which has a significant presence in the region and is upset with the “ill-treatment meted out to Jaswant Singh”.
At the rally, Singh said he got a call from the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who implied there was a conspiracy by Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje to keep his father out. “In 2014, I got a call from the then CM and now Prime Minister Narendra Modi while elections were on. He said Manvendra ji, we go way back. I had known him since I was a journalist… He said that whatever happened regarding Barmer (Lok Sabha) ticket was wrong and unfortunate, and he had nothing to do with it,” Singh said.
“He said it was not in his hands, and that this conspiracy had been hatched by one person from Jaipur and two persons from New Delhi. I don’t have to take any names…,” Singh said. “He (Modi) reminded me that we go way back and that I should have patience,” he said, adding that the party’s top leadership did not address his concerns.
Leaders of dozens of Rajput organisations were present at the event. People from diverse castes spoke from the stage, including leaders from Dalit and Muslim communities.