Former Union Minister Jaswant Singh passed away on Sunday, 27 September, due to prolonged illness. He was 82 years old.
Singh was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Jaswant Singh, who was from Rajasthan, had served as India’s foreign minister, defense minister and finance minister. He was an officer in the Indian Army in the 1950s and 60s, but he later resigned to pursue a career in politics.
In 2009, he was expelled from the saffron party after he praised Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his book Jinnah – India, Partition, Independence. While he was later inducted into the party.
In the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when BJP did not field him from his native Barmer constituency in Rajasthan, Jaswant Singh decided to fight the elections as an independent against a candidate from his own party. He was expelled after he refused to withdraw his name.
PM Modi remembered the role played by Singh, which included his stints as the External Affairs and Finance Minister during the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a series of tweets, condoled the death of the leader.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also expressed pain on the passing of the former Union minister. “Deeply pained by the passing away of veteran BJP leader & former Minister, Shri Jaswant Singh ji. He served the nation in several capacities including the charge of Raksha Mantri. He distinguished himself as an effective Minister and Parliamentarian,” he posted on Twitter.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, too, expressed condolence. “V sad to hear about the demise of Sh Jaswant Singh ji. He worked for the country all his life, whether inside the govt or outside. May his soul rest in peace (sic),” he tweeted.
