News Analysis India

Tag: Vasundhra Raje

  • Bypoll defeat sharpens factionalism in Rajasthan BJP as Raje camp goes all guns blazing

    Express News Service

    JAIPUR:  The battle for leadership in Rajasthan BJP has intensified after the party’s embarrassing defeat in recent by-elections. A recent statement by Vasundhra Raje loyalist and former BJP state president Ashok Parnami has sharpened the factionalism in the party’s state unit.

    Talking to media on Friday, Parnami claimed the next Assembly election would be fought under the leadership of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

    However, this claim angered many in the anti-Raje camp which even pushed BJP state in-charge Arun Singh to express his displeasure over Parnami’s statement.

    Meanwhile, senior party leader from RSS camp and leader of opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly, Gulab Chand Kataria has asked why Raje was missing from recent bypoll campaigns.

    Parnami’s statement came during his visit to Banswara for a meeting with supporters of the Raje camp.

    Replying to queries about keeping Raje away from the party’s bypoll campaign, Parnami said: “It is a matter to be decided at the party level. A review of the performance is going on. The Scindia family has a big contribution to building the party and the party will not keep Raje away from the elections.”

    But, as soon as he felt his statement could create difficulties for him, Parnami handled the conversation more responsibly like a soldier of the party.

    He remarked, “The parliamentary board will decide the name of the CM candidate.”

    When asked whether the Raje camp would fight the next polls against the BJP, he said, “The issue of Raje’s faction holding a separate event is being misinterpreted. She is, and will, continue to be of the BJP.”

    BJP’s state in-charge, Arun Singh, however, expressed displeasure over Parnami’s remarks and said, “I have not seen the statement. I will talk to him and I think they should not say such things in public.” 

    After the bypolls, the ongoing tussle between Raje, who is the tallest leader of BJP in Rajasthan, and the state unit led by Satish Poonia has sharpened.

    Though Raje was made star campaigner, she had kept herself away from campaigning. 

    Attack over absence from campaign

    Senior BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria attacked Raje directly over her absence from bypoll campaigns.

    “In our party, the idea is to not revolve only around one person. The party is run by collective decisions.”

  • Vasundhara Raje returns to active politics after 3 years

    Express News Service

    JAIPUR:  Rajasthan former chief minister Vasundhra Raje has returned to active politics for the first time since the BJP lost power in the 2018. On her two-day of Jodhpur trip, Raje broke her silence on CM aspirants within the party, saying only a person who commands the love and respect of people can assume the mantle. When questioned about her inactivity in the past three years, Raje said she kept away owing to her daughter in-law’s ill health.

    In Jodhpur, Raje met BJP workers at the Circuit House where a large number of people came to welcome her. Vasundhara asked BJP workers to be ready for the upcoming by-elections. On the question of factionalism in the ruling Congress, the former chief minister said it was their internal matter. However, she asserted that the Congress was a sinking ship, while the BJP must shift to a higher gear.

    Vasundhara Raje had gone to Jodhpur to condole the death of the mother of Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and also of a former cabinet minister in Rajasthan, Mahipal Maderna, on Thursday. She expressed her condolences to both the prominent political families of Jodhpur. It was clear from her tour that she has begun preparing for the Assembly elections of 2023.

  • Now, 22-year-old letter of Rajasthan BJP chief Satish Poonia sharpens party rift

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: The infighting in the Rajasthan BJP has led to a strange situation as a letter written by Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia 22 years ago has become the focal point of the party’s internal rift.

    Days after the state unit issued a notice to a Vasundhra Raje loyalist Rohitash Sharma, the letter by the current BJP chief has been leaked and gone viral on social media. While his critics are using this letter to project that Poonia used to flout party discipline in the past, Poonia says it’s a conspiracy to defame him and has questioned why his letter, written over decades ago, has now been leaked.

    In this 22-year-old letter, Satish Poonia had expressed his anger against senior BJP leaders of that time including former Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Rajendra Rathore, currently the Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly. In the letter, Poonia had lashed out at several top leaders of the Rajasthan BJP and accused them of conniving against him to deny him the BJP ticket for an upcoming election. Poonia had sent the letter to Gulab Chand Kataria, who was then the Rajasthan BJP president and Poonia had in protest, sent his resignation as the BJP’s state youth wing president.

    Poonia’s letter has been leaked just a few days after one of Vasundhra Raje’s close supporters and former minister Rohitash Sharma was issued a notice and asked to explain his recent statements within 15 days. Sharma had claimed that Raje should be the CM face for the 2023 elections in Rajasthan and alleged that currently, state BJP leaders are running the party just by sitting in their offices.

    While Rohitash Sharma is yet to respond to the party’s notice on charges of indiscipline, he was quick to use the old letter of Satish Poonia to embarrass the state BJP Chief.  Sharma remarked, “it is strange that a person who crossed all limits of indiscipline in the past, is now trying to enforce discipline on others. What discipline can a person teach others when he has committed gross indiscipline? This is really a sad situation.”

    In response, Poonia has questioned the timing of its leakage, over two decades after he wrote it. After the letter went viral, Poonia took to Twitter to defend himself and stated that ” this is a political conspiracy against me since I am a simple man from a village background who many city folks cannot digest. I can’t understand what is the relevance today of a letter written 22 years ago.”

    While nobody knows who has leaked it, inner circles in the BJP suspect that Poonia critics, possibly from the Raje faction, behind it. With Raje loyalists getting aggressive and the Poonia camp keen to enforce discipline, the rift in the Rajasthan BJP is widening with each passing day.

  • BJP posters in Rajasthan without former CM Vasundhara Raje face fan factional fight

    Express News Service
    After years of getting prominent display on BJP posters in Rajasthan, former chief minister and BJP bigwig Vasundhara Raje’s face went missing from the party hoardings for the first time in two decades, indicating that Congress is not alone in fighting factionalism.

    While BJP’s state unit president Satish Poonia said newer faces replacing the older is indicative of a generational shift, Raje supporters were not amused, insisting hers was the most popular BJP face in the state.

    Poonia, a known Raje critic, said the decision on who would get a place on posters is taken by the Central leadership.

    ALSO READ: Ashok Gehlot appoints Vasundhara Raje loyalist as mayor, creates divide in Rajasthan BJP

    “The state unit has no say in this matter. According to an established norm, the state president’s photo is displayed on hoardings in all the states, along with the photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, national president J P Nadda, the chief minister of the state where the party is in power. But where ever the party is in opposition, the protocol is to put the photo of the leader of the Opposition and the state president. All this is decided by Delhi,” he said.

    However, the explanation did not cut ice with Raje’s supporters. A former BJP MLA, Prahlad Gunjal, not only targeted Raje critics but also asserted that it’s impossible for the BJP to return to power in Rajasthan without Raje.

    ALSO READ: With return of Vasundhara Raje, factionalism erupts in Rajasthan BJP

    “Who are these people who want to sideline Raje? Frankly, it’s unimaginable how BJP will return to power in Rajasthan without Vasundhara at the helm. We do not have a single leader of her stature in the state,” he said.

    Clearly, the decision to drop Raje from BJP posters and the party’s state chief’s attempt to justify it has fanned the flames of discontent, which will only likely grow stronger. 

  • With return of Vasundhara Raje, factionalism erupts in Rajasthan BJP

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: With former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhra Raje returning to active political life, the state BJP is seeing the emergence of factionalism. Her supporters are distributing food to the needy in different parts of the state under a campaign called Vasundhra Jan Rasoi (Vasundhra public kitchen). The campaign puts the spotlight on Raje, not the party.

    The campaign was launched on May 21 by distributing food packets to about 300 families in Hasanpura Basti of Jaipur in the presence of Yunus Khan, former cabinet minister, who is considered very close to Raje.

    “Food packets are being distributed through ‘Vasundhara Jan Rasoi’ to the needy during this calamity by former CM Raje’s supporters and fans across the state,” said Yunus Khan. Supporters of the former chief minister are calling it public service. 

    But, internal sources say the participation of many sitting BJP MPs, former ministers, MLAs are to demonstrate the political clout of the former chief minister. A separate campaign to help the poor is already being run by the state BJP unit. It is called ‘Seva Hi Sangathan’.

    This includes blood donation campaigns, decoction, mask and sanitiser distribution and many other services. Demands have already been made to make Raje as the chief ministerial face in 2023 elections.

  • Vasundhara Raje stages a comeback, included in BJP core group for Rajasthan

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: Former CM Vasundhara Raje has been included in the BJP’s high-powered core committee for the state unit in a sign that the party leadership is keen to patch up its internal rift in Rajasthan. 

    Since the BJP lost the Assembly elections two years ago, Raje was marginalized and kept out of state party forums. But the national president JP Nadda has now included her in the 16-member core committee.

    Besides Raje, three Union ministers from Rajasthan — Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Kailash Chaudhari — are also a part of the BJP’s core group for Rajasthan. In addition, BJP state president Satish Poonia, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Gulabchand Kataria, Lok Sabha MPs Kankamal Katara and CP Joshi, Rajya Sabha MP Rajendra Gahlot are other members of this core group. 

    Political circles are now buzzing over the inclusion of Vasundhra Raje. Many see it as a sign that the party High Command is thinking of rehabilitating her in the state BJP unit. Raje’s inclusion comes barely a fortnight after she was not invited to a meeting in Delhi where Nadda had summoned three top leaders from the state. 

    In a direct challenge to the central BJP leadership, the supporters of Raje had openly asked the party high command to declare Raje as the chief ministerial candidate of the BJP in the next elections. Though Raje has remained silent on the issue, political observers say it is a show of defiance at her behest since she was upset at being sidelined. 

    Just a day after that Delhi meeting, Raje supporters had formed a ‘Vasundhara Raje Samarthak Rajasthan Manch’. The announcement of the Manch formed by Raje supporters on Social Media with office bearers in 25 districts had led to major consternation and rift within the Rajasthan BJP. The current state BJP chief Satish Poonia had reacted sharply and pointed out that his loyalists too had made a similar forum in Poonia’s name on social media.

    Raje’s inclusion in the core group is now being seen as an effort to end the quarrel, especially between Raje loyalists and the RSS faction headed by Poonia. Besides local body elections, four by-elections for Rajasthan Assembly are forthcoming and this move is being seen as a bid to present a united face of the BJP in the state.

    In a letter to Poonia, the national general Secretary Arun Singh has instructed that the core group meetings should be held mandatorily once a month. The first meeting of the core group is slated for January 24.