New Delhi: In the midst of all the infighting in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sushma Swaraj, who is emerging as a major leader in the party, went to Jaswant Singh's house to visit the expelled leader.
It raised speculation that there is some regret in the party over the manner in which Jaswant was expelled and perhaps some remorse too. Sushma did apologise to Jaswant Singh, but officially there were other issues on her agenda.
Party sources say, she came to correct a serious miscalculation and ask Jaswant Singh to quit as chairman of Parliament's most influential panel - the Public Accounts Committee.
The BJP's argument is that PAC post should belong to the main Opposition party. But Jaswant Singh is in no mood to let go. And it's come as a fresh embarrassment for the party.
The trouble is only the Speaker can remove the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, only in the case of misconduct or failure to discharge duties.
If the Speaker doesn't intervene, there'll be an unprecedented situation and Jaswant Singh can last the full one-year term.
And not surprisingly, BJP's discomfort is the Congress' delight.
But am impasse will impact the government too, as the PAC chairman interacts closely with ministers, the Prime Minster, and deals with sensitive files.
The PAC chairman is like a super auditor, who can call files of all government departments. And an independent MP - what Jaswant Singh is now - is not unlawful, it is against convention.
The BJP's war within has reached Parliament, it's impacting conventions. This is the first sign that BJP's disarray can be bad news for Indian politics.