Former Union Minister Jaswant Singh died on Sunday morning. He was 82. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh have expressed grief over his death. PM Modi said Jaswant Singh Ji served our country with full devotion. First as a soldier and later during his long engagement with politics. At the same time, the Defense Minister said, that former Minister Shri Jaswant Singh Ji was deeply saddened. He served the country in many capacities, including in charge of the Ministry of Defense.
Jaswant Singh was born on January 3, 1938, in Jasoul village in Barmer district, Rajasthan. The father of the former Union Minister was named Thakur Sardar Singhji and his mother's name was Kunwar Baisa. Former Union Minister Jaswant Singh earned a BA and BSc degrees from Mayo College, Ajmer. Jaswant Singh wanted him to join the army and serve the country. He also fulfilled his dream. Jaswant Singh served the country as an army officer and retired.
Singh was married to Sheetal Kumari on June 30, 1963. They both have two children. He was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Jaswant Singh was one of the longest-serving MPs in India. He was either a member of the upper house or a member of the lower house between 1980 or 2014.
How was Jaswant Singh's political career
Jaswant Singh's political life began after Bhairo Shekhawat, a former vice-president and once BJP's stalwart leader, joined him in the Jana Sangh. His first political success came in 1980 when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He served as a finance minister in the 13-day government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996.
Jaswant Singh became the Minister of External Affairs of India from December 5, 1998, to July 1, 2002, after Vajpayee became Prime Minister again two years later. While in this position, Jaswant settled the tense situation between India and Pakistan. In July 2002, Jaswant Singh again became the Finance Minister. He served as Finance Minister until May 2004.
Vice Presidential Candidate
Jaswant Singh was nominated for the post of Vice President by the NDA in 2012. He contested against Hamid Ansari, who was the UPA candidate. However, he lost this election.
Jaswant Singh controversy
Jaswant Singh was engulfed in controversy when his book 'Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence' claimed that Jawaharlal Nehru's centralized politics was responsible for the partition. In his book, Jaswant praised Muhammad Ali Jinnah. After this, the BJP expelled him from the party.
However, in 2010, he was re-inducted into the BJP. In 2014, the BJP did not give him the Lok Sabha ticket. The BJP fielded Colonel Sonaram Choudhary from his Barmer seat. After this Jaswant again left the BJP. Independents contested but lost.
Jaswant went to Kandahar for terrorists when the plane hijacked
Jaswant Singh handled three important portfolios like Foreign, Defense, and Finance in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. When Indian Airlines flight number IC-814 was hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan on 24 December 1999. During this time, the Government of India had to release three dreaded terrorists to free the passengers from the clutches of the terrorists. The terrorists who were released included Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, Ahmed Umar Saeed Sheikh, and Maulana Masood Azhar. Jaswant Singh himself took them to Kandahar.