Former Union minister and senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh on Monday faced criminal charges after a special narcotics court in Jodhpur directed the Rajasthan Police to register a case and investigate allegations against him under the stringent anti-narcotics act for allegedly using opium during a function at his ancestral home in Barmer district last week.
The case against Jaswant in a BJP ruled state has raised eyebrows, with party leaders contending that there is more to the developments that point to factionalism at the highest-level. Sections in the party feel that the controversy in Rajasthan may be linked to growing animosity between chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Jaswant. Latter?s wife Sheetal Kumari incidentally, had lodged a police complaint a few months ago against admirers of CM, who had printed posters depicting Vasundhara as Annapurna (Goddess of harvest).
A cautious BJP leadership here on Monday refrained from coming out in strong support of the senior leader, contenting that law would take its own course. ??An inquiry has been instituted and the party is hopeful that Jaswant Singh will come clean of allegations?? party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
What lent further interest to the entire episode was the fact that several BJP leaders and ministers in the Vasundhara cabinet, but reportedly close to Jaswant, were present at the ceremony and partook of the ?drink? which allegedly contained opium. The list of ?dissidents? included Ghans Shyam Tiwari, Narpat Singh Rajvi and Madan Dilawar, parliamentarians Raghuveer Singh Kaushal, Lalit Kishor Chaturvedi and Kailash Meghwal, two BJP legislators Jogeshwar Garg and Shankar Singh Rajpurohit. Chief whip of BJP legislature party Mahavir Prasad Jain was also present.
