'Everyone free in BJP to kick ideological football'

Jaswant Singh, who was unceremoniously ousted from the Bharatiya Janata Party for 'attacking' the party's 'core ideology,' had described the saffron organisation as 'an open field where one gets to kick an ideological football everyday.'

In the June 9 letter, Singh had written to the party's core group calling for a 'deep review' of the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections raised the hackles of the party leadership.

The letter, which had also set the stage for his expulsion two-and-a-half-months later, had lamented that the analyses of the defeat in the 2004 parliamentary elections and Rajasthan assembly polls had not been made public.

"The party has become an open field where one gets an ideological football every day. Everybody is free to kick it anywhere as there is no goalpost," Singh, 71, had said in the letter accessed by PTI.

In the missive that brought him into confrontation with the top party brass, Singh raised questions about rewards and performance (of leaders during the elections).

"When the top leadership (Advani)can accept responsibility (for the poor showing), why not us or those managing the party affairs (Rajnath and Arun Jaitley). Is there no link between rewards and results? Or do we claim credit for success and lay the blame for failure at other's door?" he said.

The expelled BJP stalwart was referring to the appointment of Jaitley as leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, notwithstanding the party's dismal showing in this year's Lok Sabha polls for which he was one of the key campaign managers.

About the analyses of the outcome of the 2004 LS polls and the assembly elections in Rajasthan, Singh said, "We are still not aware of the results of the deliberations on the debacles" and wondered whether the review of the 2009 LS polls would meet the same fate.

In an oblique reference to the bickering in the party, he said, "A collective voice can be born only out of mutual respect and cooperation which is not happening. As a result, the trouble will increase, it is imminent."

He had requested the members of the core group to make "a deep review of the elections within a time frame. Any delay will be hazardous. A review (of the elections) will help establish the principle of accountability. Decisive action needs to be seen to have been taken."