New Delhi: After a terrible week, the news for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) isn't getting any better. Jaswant Singh, who was expelled on Wednesday, met former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Sunday - a signal that Vajpayee has perhaps distanced himself from his party's stand on Jaswant Singh.
And that's not all; one of Lal Krishna Advani's closest aides till not so long ago, Sudheendra Kulkarni quit the party on Sunday.
"I sought his blessing, and now I'm going home to rest," said Jaswant Singh on his meeting with Vajpayee.
When he drove in to Vajpayee's residence to meet the former PM, it evoked question whether the BJP's tallest leader disapproves of Jaswant's expulsion. The BJP doesn't see any reason to believe so.
His meeting with Vajpayee comes just a day after he revealed on NDTV's Walk The Talk that Vajpayee wanted to resign as Prime Minister after the Gujarat riots.
But Sunday saw the party on the defensive yet again. This time after Sudheendra Kulkarni quit.
The BJP says Kulkarni's departure is inconsequential, especially after he was sidelined for questioning and criticising the leadership after the party's election loss. But the fact is that Kulkarni was a close aide of Advani during the campaign.
Despite all the criticism and reports, that infighting and back-stabbings have reached a new low. The BJP maintains all is under control.
Nevertheless, party chief Rajnath Singh visited the RSS office in Delhi, apparently to brief them about the details of Chintan Baithak held in Shimla.