Tuesday, June 28 2005 19:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The rumblings in the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) today (Jun 28, 2005) caused Yashwant Sinha his position as a party spokesman in the wake of his criticism of its President L K Advani for his controversial remarks on Mohd Ali Jinnah and his recent attack on Jharkhand BJP Chief Minister Arjun Munda.

The former External Affairs Minister, who only last week refuted speculation that he may quit the party, did not figure in the list of "reconstituted" team of party spokespersons announced here.

In fact, the other four designated spokespersons -- Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Manvendra Singh and Prakash Javadekar -- have been retained, which clearly shows that the "reconstitution" exercise was only intended to give the sack to Sinha.

Sinha, who originally came from the Janata Dal stream in politics and also had held the Finance portfolio in the Vajpayee Government, had criticised Advani for praising Pakistan founder Jinnah, saying the comments were avoidable.

After Advani resigned as party chief in the wake of controversy, Sinha had suggested that he also quit as Leader of Opposition.

Only last week he attacked the BJP's Government in Jharkhand, accusing it of being corrupt and extravagant.

Following this, the party sought to discipline him by asking him not to air his views in public. But he maintained that he had expressed his opinion in the interest of the people of the State.