WEB DESK
Former defence minister Jaswant Singh passed away on Sunday. He was 82. He was in coma for the last six years. In 2014, he was admitted to the Army (Research and Referral) Hospital in Delhi following a severe head injury at his residence.
A former officer of the Indian Army, Singh had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as an Independent candidate from Barmer district in Rajasthan after he did not get a BJP ticket. He lost to Colonel Sona Ram of the BJP.
Singh — considered close to Vajpayee and veteran BJP leader LK Advani — was twice expelled from the party; in 2009, the parliamentary board of the BJP expelled him after his book Jinnah – India, Partition, Independence was published. He rejoined the party after 10 months, but faced a second expulsion in 2014 when he defied party orders and challenged the BJP’s decision of not fielding him as a contestant from Barmer.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: Jaswant Singh ji served our nation diligently, first as a soldier and later during his long association with politics. During Atal ji’s Government, he handled crucial portfolios and left a strong mark in the worlds of finance, defence and external affairs. Saddened by his demise.”