New Delhi, June 24
Jaswant Singh, expelled barely 10 months ago, by the BJP for writing a book on Partition portraying Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah as a secular nationalist, was welcomed back to the saffron party here today by an array of top leaders amidst much fanfare.

BJP patriarch L.K. Advani, president Nitin Gadkari, and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj were all there to make the occasion momentous.

Pleased with his home coming, Singh thanked Advani before a packed gathering, for taking the initiative to bring him back to the party he had founded with others.

"It is good to be back in familiar surroundings... I wish to unreservedly express my gratitude to Advaniji who took the initiative," Singh said.

Within days of the release of his book in Delhi, Singh was suddenly expelled from the party at Shimla on August 19 where the leaders had assembled for a “Chintan Baithak” to review the 2009 general election results and to fix responsibility of the failure of the party to make it.

Singh who was elected to the BJP from Darjeeling recalled that event and said, "I was hurt and humiliated by what I had encountered."

As if anticipating Jaswant’s grievance, Advani who initiated the process of his return said in his brief speech, "I am very happy. With happiness there is also a sense of relief. I welcome him." Gadkari, who made that extra effort after becoming BJP president, wanted to forget the past and said, "past is past.” He urged Singh to guide the BJP towards a bright future. Offering a bouquet to Jaswant he said, “Today is a day of great happiness for me and the party workers”.

Singh commended Advani and appreciated Gadkari’s gesture and announced that he would return to the task “I set myself 44 years ago” of opposing the policies of Congress party.”

Before the programme started, BJP general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad announced, “There will be no questions and answers today. Perhaps both BJP and Jaswant wanted to avoid the moot question, whether he had disowned his book or the BJP had accepted his thesis on Partition and Jinnah. Repeated attempts to pose this question to both Jaswant and BJP leaders evoked only blank looks from both.

The decision to expel Jaswant was as dramatic as to take him back today without explanations. The Chintan Baithak was held when he and others like Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie had questioned the “Rewarding of” Advani and Arun Jaitely whom he held responsible for the party’s poor performance. Being one of the senior most leaders he was invited to Shimla meeting. But once there, he was put up in a different hotel and in the morning asked to await a word from the party before leaving for the venue of the meeting. where Narendra Modi brought up the issue.”