New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh Friday said the ongoing general election was marked by “rhetoric” and it lacked debate on issues of national importance.
“Political parties have lost their moral compass, rhetoric has replaced logic. The level of political discourse has reached an abysmally low point,” the former defence and external affairs minister said during a meet-the-press event here.
Jaswant Singh said the Bharatiya Janata Party has become a one-man party with a “coterie”, though he evaded making any comment on the party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
“The BJP did not have an individual leadership even in the times of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Currently, it has become a one-man party with a coterie. It is not the natural evolution of the party,” he said.
Describing his expulsion from the BJP as an “extreme step”, Jaswant Singh ruled out rejoining the party even if a willingness was shown to re-induct him.
He said he might extend issue-based support to the National Democratic Alliance, but that support may as well go to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance or the Third Front.
“If I feel the agenda of the UPA or a Third Front is for the greater good of the country, I may support them,” said Jaswant Singh, who was expelled from the BJP following his decision to contest the Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate from Barmer, Rajasthan.