Expelled Jaswant Singh rejoins BJP, says feels good to be back

Lok Sabha MP and former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party today - ten months after he was expelled from the party over his book praising Pakistan founder Jinnah. He said it felt good to be back.

Lok Sabha MP and former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday - ten months after he was expelled from the party over his book praising Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He said it felt good to be back.

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"Its good to be back in a familiar surrounding among familiar faces. I thank (senior party leader L.K.) Advani-ji who took the initiative and telephoned me to come over and meet him," Singh told media persons at the BJP headquarters here.

"When I met him, I experienced much more gratitude, generosity and graciousness compared to the humiliation I experienced when I was expelled from the party. He asked me to come back and consider the chapter as closed," he said.

Welcoming Singh back to the party fold, Advani said: "It's a matter of happiness and sense of relief that he is back in the party. I welcome him and I am confident we will get his support and direction for running the party."

BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said what has happened is past and "we should live in the present".

Singh, who is the MP from Darjeeling, was re-admitted into the party in the presence of senior leaders including Advani, Gadkari and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.