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"The Parliamentary Board confirmed the decision of national president Nitin Gadkari to immediately suspend Ram Jethmalani for his indiscipline and anti-party activities. He has also been issued a notice on why he should not be expelled from the party for six years," BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar told reporters after the meeting.
Kumar, however, said the issue of the statements made by its Lok Sabha MPs Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha against Gadkari and its Leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses of Parliament did not come up for discussion in the meeting. The two leaders have also demanded Gadkari's resignation.
Shatrughan Sinha had also supported Jethmalani in demanding the resignation of Gadkari.
Only the Parliamentary Board, BJP's highest decision-making body, has the authority to expel a party MP or an MLA.
In 2009, senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh had been expelled without being show-caused even though he is a Lok Sabha MP when he wrote a book praising Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah and holding Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel responsible for the Partition.
Asked why an apparently lenient view has been taken on Jethmalani's actions, Ananth Kumar did not give a direct reply and maintained that the BJP President has the powers to immediately suspend a member.
"Gadkari immediately suspended Ram Jethmalani and referred the issue to the Parliamentary Board for deliberations. After deliberations, the Board felt it was the right decision and he should be suspended from the party for anti-party activities and indiscipline," Kumar said.
Sources maintained the show cause is the right course to take as per the BJP constitution. But it was not lost on anybody that Jethmalani could have got this treatment as he is handling the court cases against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots.
Moreover, with Modi being a rising star, some party leaders are against brushing him on the wrong side by acting against Jethmalani.
Today's Parliamentary Board meeting was also held against the backdrop of a fresh letter from Jethmalani to Gadkari in which he has explained why he felt Jaitley and Swaraj were against Ranjit Sinha's appointment as CBI Director.
In an earlier letter to Gadkari, Jethmalani had alleged Jaitley and Swaraj were batting for Delhi Police Commissioner Niraj Kumar who was in the race for the CBI Director's post.
Sources said both Jaitley and Swaraj told the Parliamentary Board that the insinuations made against them by Jethmalani are baseless. Swaraj said she does not even know Niraj Kumar and has never met him while Jaitley maintained that the charges are too indirect and vague and do not add up.
Meanwhile, Jethmalani reacted to the new development by saying he has not yet received any show cause notice and said the Parliamentary Board must have stated some ground for his suspension.
Asked if his words against Gadkari had led to this action, he said, "I don't know but I am entitled to suspect that."
Too busy, may reply in 10 yrs: Jethmalani
BJP must streamline and bring in young leaders to revive the party. Narendra Modi is doing great but the BJP leaders who are runing the party and its chances to rule India efefctively. AAP will secure seats in the next parliament
why BJP is heavily dependent on RSS ? In a liberalised economy it is ridiculous to talk about swadeshi, though it is good but not in present and future as the world economic try ti integrate with each other. So many indian stuff used by other countries then where is the question of closed economy ? If RSS think so they should also contest upcomg 2014 election . They should advised arun jaitly who had fought legale case for ketan parekh in gujarat,cwhere modi is chief minister. where is your ethics, idology ? Might be RSS got monetry support from Gujarat CM ?
Its indeed a shame to see the highhandedness of BJP resulting in a Split Wide Open and damaging the credentials of the Party... Gadkari cannot absolve himself n hence must resign..he is a disgrace to the Party if not an embarrassment. Wake Up BJP n put your house in order before its too late. You are making it obvious that you dont want Modi as PM candidate n want the old man Advani .... You people are now in a quagmire of your own making!!
B.J.P. Organizational Cadre is in a mood to implement Discipline within the Party and keeping in mind the Discipline Concept B.J.p. Senior Leader Mr Ram Jethmalani has been served with show Cause Notice . Really a positive vision of the Organization to maintain Discipline in the Organization so that in future responsible Personalities may refrain from quoting ir-responsible Comments .
