Sending a strong signal it won’t tolerate “indiscipline”, the BJP on Sunday suspended “defiant” Ram Jethmalani with immediate effect for daring the party to act against him for his publicly-expressed views on the CBI chief’s appointment.
Earlier on Sunday Mr Jethmalani, daring the party, had said: “Nobody has the guts to take action against me.” He had also demanded BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s resignation for alleged dubious funding in his Purti Group, and on this got support from senior party leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha.
But it was his attack on the party for opposing Ranjit Sinha’s appointment as CBI director that provoked the BJP into action. Spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain said Mr Jethmalani had opposed the letter written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley asking him to keep the CBI chief’s appointment in abeyance and this was “meant to help the Congress”, calling it “gross indiscipline”.
AICC spokesman Rashid Alvi said the Congress would “never comment on the internal affairs of other parties. People of this country (expected) the BJP to take action against the corrupt, but they have taken action against Mr Jethmalaniji. We have nothing to say.”
Mr Hussain said the BJP viewed Mr Jethmalani’s remarks “very seriously”, and added: “Nitin Gadkari has viewed his remarks and today’s statement very seriously, and decided to suspend him with immediate effect”.
The BJP parliamentary board will meet 4.30 pm Monday and “take forward the suspension process”.
In Mumbai, Mr Jethmalani said many in the BJP shared his views, but “few had the capacity” to express them. He clarified that his views on CBI chief’s appointment were his own, not those of the BJP, where “I am a small person”.
In Patna Mr Sinha not only openly backed Mr Jethmalani on the CBI director’s appointment, but also criticised the BJP’s plans to take disciplinary action against the lawyer politician. He also praised the new CBI chief’s selection in a “completely fair and transparent process”.