Shimla, Aug 19 - He has gone from being the party's Hanuman to its Ravana but his political life has not yet ended, a tearful Jaswant Singh said Wednesday shortly after a phone call from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh that he had been expelled from the party.

Saying he was 'sad and regretful', the 71-year-old former union minister, who has held the portfolios of defence, finance and external affairs, said the phone call ending his 30-year association with the BJP came at 1 p.m.

'It is sad and I regret it for a number of reasons, which I cannot explain in detail,' Jaswant Singh, who has been with the BJP since its inception in 1980, said in the Himachal Pradesh capital where the BJP began its three-day introspection meeting Wednesday.

The expulsion comes two days after the release of his controversial book praising Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, 'Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence'.

He referred to a cartoon in India Today magazine that had portrayed him as Hanuman and said he had now become the Ravana of the BJP.

'I had never imagined that 30 years of my service would have ended this way. It's regretful,' the visibly emotional Jaswant Singh added.

He said he also 'regretted' that the party president informed him about the decision over the phone and not personally.

'I would have stepped down had they informed me in person,' he said.

'I am worried and sad that just one book has led to my expulsion,' he added, wondering what would happen if 'soch, vichar and chintan' (thinking and introspection) stopped in Indian politics.

'I resigned from the army in 1967... I am not a pensioner...and my party expelled me; it's saddening.