Raje, former Rajasthan CM and currently the leader of opposition in the state assembly, is considering to walk away with a big chunk of "loyalists" to float her own regional party before assembly polls in the state — due in December next year — if the leadership does not recognize her pre-eminence in the state unit. Raje has demanded a say in the appointment of state chief, and an upper hand in the distribution of party tickets for the assembly polls.
Raje is widely acknowledged to be the only leader in the BJP with a pan-state appeal: something which defies Rajasthan's reputation as a conservative state and has baffled political observers and sociologists alike. It is also recognized that sabotage was the chief reason why she failed to pull off a win in the last assembly election despite coming close to pulling off one in the face of anti-incumbency.
The grouse of Raje and her supporters is that the appreciation of her being the best bet for the party is not reflected in way central leadership has been conducting its affairs, insisting on a parity among the party between her and the "leaders who have no influence outside their assembly constituencies".
The indulgence of indiscipline has encouraged disproportionate ambitions, dealing a blow to the authority of the leadership. "Devi Singh Bhati (Kolayat MLA) has launched an independent campaign and challenged the party leadership to stop his campaign. Gulab Chand Kataria is already moving places. There is no discipline in the party and senior leaders are shy of projecting Vasundharaji as a party leader. That leaves her with no option but to think about options beyond BJP," said a Raje loyalist.
"Madam (Raje) was aghast at the national leaders' indifference towards her repeated demand for a free hand in the run-up to assembly polls in the state," BJP MLAs aligned with Raje told.
A leader from the Raje camp claimed that 70 out of the 79 MLA have expressed their support to Raje, and several other party leaders are also willing to follow suit.
While efforts to contact Raje proved futile, her trusted lieutenant and party chief whip in the state assembly, Rajendra Singh Rathore also refused to comment on the issue. "I have no information in this regard," he said.
Raje camp insiders said that they were in touch with a few independent legislators, including the six "turncoat" MLAs elected from the BSP who went on to join the Congress, providing a majority to the Ashok Gehlot government.
Raje is also said to be mulling over an alliance with the BSP as that will not only strengthen them in eastern Rajasthan but also fetch a sizeable number of Muslim votes.
The BSP did well in eastern Rajasthan during the 2008 assembly polls in the state as six MLAs were elected and several of its candidates finished runners-up.
The trouble in Rajasthan unit spells serious concern for the party. BJP is hoping for a good tally of Lok Sabha seats from the state, but the prospect could suffer a setback if Raje heeds her supporters to go her separate way.
Raje could be the latest addition to a long list of regional satraps of the BJP, who have had a falling out with the national leadership. Yeddyurappa is also toying with the idea of floating a regional party as the high command has refused to reinstate him as chief minister of Karnataka.
The party has still not recovered from the loss caused by the exit of Kalyan Singh in Uttar Pradesh and Babulal Marandi has emerged a strong regional force in Jharkhand after parting ways with the BJP.
The trend of satraps launching their own outfits is also seen as fallout of the vanishing Hindutva fervour and BJP's failure to find a replacement for the charismatic Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
After attending the recent assembly session in the state, Raje is camping in New Delhi. She met with several senior party leaders in the national capital to convince them about giving her a free hand to take final calls about the assembly polls. It was learnt that Raje also asked for state party chief Arun Chaturvedi to be substituted by a colleague of her choice, and rejection of the candidature of Gulab Chand Kataria, her detractor for the post.
Senior leaders have rejected her demands and suggested that they will let her lead the party but no "free hand" will be encouraged as unanimity ought to be maintained among senior state leaders on all major issues.
Kataria is a known Raje baiter and has already tried to open a parallel front as he planned a "rath yatra" against corruption in the beginning of this year. Raje vehemently opposed Kataria's proposed campaign and that latter had to cancel the plan.
Reports suggest that Kataria, this time around, has got support of other senior state leaders including Ghanshyam Tiwadi (deputy leader of opposition), Arun Chaturvedi (current state president), Lalit Chaturvedi and Narpat Singh Rajvi (son-in-law of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat). These leaders have reportedly maintained a concerted pressure on the BJP top brass to make sure that Raje was not allowed to "dictate" her will and that other leaders are also given the due consideration on party matters.
Moreover, a few senior leaders in New Delhi, who were rubbed the wrong way by Raje in the past, have extended tacit support to the anti-Raje camp.
Raje camp insiders claimed that the RSS office-bearers were also determined to make sure that Raje is not accorded "autonomy" like Narendra Modi. Recently Raje met with a few RSS functionaries in New Delhi and the latter assured support to her. However, the same RSS functionaries allowed Kataria to go ahead with his own scheme of things and strengthen his position in the state.
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