The BJP high command has summoned Vasundhra Raje to Delhi on August 31 to meet senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu to defuse the crisis in Rajasthan.
The BJP high command has summoned Vasundhra Raje to Delhi on August 31 to meet senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu to defuse the crisis in Rajasthan even as the former chief minister showed some signs of softening over her refusal to step down as Leader of Opposition.
Raje will meet Naidu on Monday to discuss the future course of action. The party high command had given her time till August 30 to put in her papers when the short session of the state assembly ends.
The former chief minister, who held a show of strength of BJP MLAs on Wednesday attended by 70 of the 78 legislators, said in Jaipur today that she was a disciplined soldier of the party and would like to "sort out this problem by talking" to its leadership whose orders were "supreme" to her.
"I am a disciplined soldier of the party and its order is supreme for me. I am committed to serve the party with a post or without it," she said in a statement here.
Naidu has been appointed as the pointsman to defuse the crisis in the Rajasthan BJP unit.
Holding Raje responsible for the party's poor performance in the state assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had earlier this month asked her to step down as Leader of Opposition.
Raje has put forth three conditions before acceding to the party's decision. She wants to choose her successor as Leader of Opposition, revocation of the suspension order against two of her supporters and a post for herself in Delhi.
Emphasising that she was ready for talks any time, Raje said, "When there is a problem of any sort within a family, it is only natural that you would sit down and talk it out. That is only how we would be able to sort it (crisis) out," she told reporters.
The BJP leader said, "today I would like to say that I am, and would be, very keen to go (for talks) as quickly as possible to sit down and sort out these problems by talking to each other."
The former chief minister also claimed she enjoyed "very cordial and family ties" with RSS since her mother late Vijay Raje Scindia's time. "Any order by the party will be supreme for me," she said.
To convey her reluctance to opt out as Leader of Opposition, Raje had brought to Delhi last week 57 BJP MLAs. She met BJP president Rajnath Singh but the MLAs were refused a meeting with LK Advani.
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