Defiant supporters of Vasundhara Raje staged a sit-in as he refused to meet them. Rajnath and Advani were in a meeting at the time of the sit-in.
Vasundhara Raje’s supporters tried to stall her removal as leader of opposition in Rajasthan, but in vain. The show of strength only emboldened the BJP central leadership to issue a loud and clear message: Vasundhara Raje must go. The change of leadership is expected by August 18.
Over 40 of Raje’s supporters, mostly MLAs and three MPs, met BJP president Rajnath Singh on Friday and gave a memorandum demanding that she not be removed. But unimpressed by the attempted show of strength by her supporters, the BJP central leadership told them it amounted to an act of indiscipline and that Raje must go. The party would send a couple of observers to Jaipur on Saturday to decide on the successor.
Raje’s supporters also tried to meet LK Advani but were denied entry, despite a sit-in staged by them outside his residence.
BJP chief whip in the Rajasthan assembly, Rajendra Singh Rathore, and party leader Kiran Maheshwari submitted a memorandum of their demands to Advani’s office. Raje reportedly requested an audience with Advani and Rajnath Singh on Saturday but it was conveyed to her that this would not be needed.
Rajnath Singh told MLAs and MPs that Delhi was not a place to come to lodge protests and what they were doing amounted to indiscipline. If they wanted to talk, two or three people could have come and met him. He said the BJP was a national party, not a regional outfit. The decision to replace Raje was a unanimous one taken by the core group and there was no question of changing it and protesting would not serve any purpose.
Speaking to DNA about the party’s stand, he said, “Change is part of the natural process in a political party and it has to be accepted.” The change in Rajasthan would happen soon, he said, before the “chintan baithak” in Shimla from August 19 to 21.
He said the decision on Raje’s successor would be taken after consultation with MLAs rather than unilaterally imposing someone from above.
Rajnath Singh and RSS leaders are opposed to Raje, who is reportedly close to Advani. Advani’s refusal to meet her supporters on Friday thus came as a royal snub to Raje. But some saw logic in it. Raje’s removal was sought on the ground that she failed to deliver and the number of BJP MPs from Rajasthan dropped from 23 to four while in the assembly the party’s strength plummeted from 123 to 78. This was attributed to infighting in the party, one reason why the MLAs’ support did not matter.
Raje’s supporters, however, contended that if losing elections was the reason, why was Raje being singled out? “There are others in the central leadership who have continued and even been rewarded,” they said, hinting at Advani and Arun Jaitley.
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