New Delhi, Aug 19 - The expulsion of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh from the party Wednesday following his praise of Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah was due to an 'open and shut' case that had nothing to do with the power struggle within the party, senior BJP and RSS leaders maintained.

A senior BJP leader and a member of the party's core group said: 'It was an open and shut case. Jaswant Singh wrote a book a in which he praised Jinnah and criticised Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel. There was general consensus on this issue within the party that if Jaswant goes ahead with his book, he will have to go.

'The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the BJP) had made no direct reference to this book but indications were given to the BJP top leadership that they would have to act on the issue of Jaswant Singh's stand on Jinnah and Patel.'

The leader added: 'No questions were raised as the party leadership agreed with the RSS leadership on this issue. Hence action was taken. It is not at all linked to the ongoing tussle within the party.'

Speaking a couple of hours after the expulsion, the leader said television channels were blowing up the issue. He discounted the 'conspiracy theories' doing the rounds, that Jaswant Singh's expulsion was a fallout of a power struggle within the BJP to capture the party apparatus. Nor was it a knee-jerk reaction by the struggling party president Rajnath Singh, he held.

A senior RSS functionary, who is a member of the coordination team with the BJP on crucial issues, told IANS: 'Nothing much should be read into this.