BJP removes Manvendra Singh from party's national executive

The Bharatiya Janata Part (BJP) has removed Manvendra Singh, the son of expelled party leader Jaswant Singh and MLA from Sheo in Rajasthan, from its national executive.

Manvendra Singh, 50, had come under the BJP central leadership's scrutiny after it had received complaints that he was soliciting votes for his father in the Barmer Lok Sabha constituency.

Jaswant Singh, 76, was expelled from the party last month after he decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate from Barmer, protesting against the party's decision to field Colonel (Retired) Sonaram Chowdhury, a recent import from the Congress Party.

Following his removal from the national executive, the state unit of the BJP suspended Manvendra Singh from the primary membership of the party and served him a show cause notice for allegations that he defied the party's diktat by campaigning for his father.

The state unit has recommended strict action against him by leader of the party in the legislative assembly and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

Party workers had submitted "evidence" to their leaders against Manvendra, in the form of photographs and videos. Manvendra Singh was reportedly also photographed in his father's election office. On March 31, four senior party workers were suspended for supporting Jaswant Singh.

Meanwhile, Manvendra Singh is reported to have taken a month's leave from the party citing poor health.

He was a journalist and has also been with the Territorial Army. He won the Barmer seat in 2004 by defeating Chowdhury, who was then with the Congress Party and is now the BJP candidate. He lost the parliamentary election in 2009, after which he contested and won in the Rajasthan assembly polls last year.