Jaipur, (Samajweekly) The Rajasthan BJP team was summoned to New Delhi on Tuesday by the party high command and asked to stay united in view of the Assembly polls slated to be held in December next year.
The party leaders called to Delhi included former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, state BJP president Satish Poonia, Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Arjun Meghwal, Leader of Opposition Gulabchand Kataria, organisation general secretary Chandrashekhar and Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore.
All of them attended a meeting at the residence of Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda who exhorted them to stay united in view of the assembly polls next year.
The Rajasthan BJP is a divided house at the moment as many leaders are aspiring to be the CM face. Most prominent among them are Raje, Poonia, Shekhawat and Birla.
Also, the differences between Raje and Poonia are in the open. Raje’s posters missing in the bypolls and from the party office are an open secret and the stories of Raje boycotting party office meetings are known to all.
Recently, after the Karauli violence, Raje visited the victims in the district even at a time when Poonia had formed a committee and asked them to file a report and submit it to the party officials.
While Raje was allowed to make the tour, Poonia along with BJP leader Tejasvi Surya who were taking out a Nyay Yatra were stopped from entering Karauli which raised many eyebrows.
This is not the first time that Raje has worked parallel to the organisation. Earlier too, she gathered a huge crowd on her birthday as a show of strength. Also, she ran the Vasundhara Rasoi during the Covid pandemic when the party was running the Seva hi Sangathan campaign.
The central leadership has been closely monitoring all these developments, sources said adding that “This is the reason they have stayed away from announcing a CM face.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda and the recent visit of BL Santosh confirmed that the party will contest the elections on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face.
All these senior leaders during their visit to Rajasthan witnessed the factionalism affecting the party’s prospects in a state which is currently ruled by the Congress.
“Presently, Rajasthan is the only state where the Congress has its government and the BJP leadership is adamant to throw them out in the next elections and hence this rigorous exercise,” said party sources.
