Earlier today, Former Union Minister Jaswant Singh passed away at the age of 82. A nine-time Parliamentarian, Jaswant Singh had slipped into a coma after a serious head injury in 2014.
BJP leaders remembered the veteran leader, who is fondly referred to as Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Hanuman. An important member of Atal Ji’s cabinet, Mr. Singh had held multiple portfolios during the regime. Here are a few other interesting facts you need to know about the army officer-turned-politician.
Mr. Singh was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1990
Although his political career had kicked off long ago, Jaswant Singh’s breakthrough arrived with a nomination to Rajya Sabha in 1990. He later served as a Finance Minister in Vajpayee’s Government, and two years later, took up the External Affairs Ministry.
‘Hijack Baby’
During 1999, when an Indian Airlines flight from Nepal to India had been hijacked, Jaswant Singh also welcomed the birth of his granddaughter. The nicknames such as ‘Hijack Baby’ was in the news for some time.
‘A Call To Honor
In the aforementioned book released by Mr. Singh, it was revealed that there was a mole in PMO during the PV Narasimha Rao government. However, when asked to reveal the name, Jaswant Singh appeared to withdraw his claim.
‘Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence’
In this book, Jaswant Singh mentioned that Jawaharlal Nehru was responsible for the partition, and also appreciated Jinnah. This claim eventually led to his expulsion from BJP.
Vajpayee’s Hanuman
Even Jaswant Singh approved of the comparison. He had said: “During Atalji’s time there was a cartoon that I keep framed. In that, I was pictured as Hanuman. But now I appear to have become Ravana.“
Jaswant returned to the party in 2010
He also became NDA’s Vice-Presidential candidate in 2012. However, he eventually lost to Hamid Ansari. Later, he ran into yet another controversy with BJP.
Contested as an independent candidate in 2014
Denied a Lok Sabha ticket by BJP, Jaswant Singh contested as an independent candidate from Barmer in Rajasthan. However, he lost the election to BJP in the constituency.
Source: Free Press Journal
