After former Rajasthan chief minister and Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Vasundhara Raje threatened to quit over her party colleague Gulabchand Kataria’s decision to embark on a yatra, the BJP on Monday conveyed to Ms Raje that “she is the party” in Rajasthan.
With a majority of the BJP MLAs submitting their resignation to Ms Raje, expressing their solidarity, the BJP top brass was busy placating the LoP in the state Assembly. Sources said that the BJP parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani and Leader of the Opposition in the RS Arun Jaitley spoke to Ms Raje asking her to pipe down. Speculation that Ms Raje and other senior state leaders will meet the BJP top brass soon is on.
Ms Raje had gone public with her anger over Mr Kataria’s decision to take out a yatra in the state. Sources said the former Rajasthan CM took the yatra as a challenge to her supremacy and therefore, wanted the Central leadership to declare her as the CM candidate for the Assembly polls scheduled in the state next year. Mr Kataria, meanwhile, has cancelled his yatra.
“The clouds have cleared now and rains are expected... There was one misunderstanding and it has been resolved. Raje is the undisputed leader. She is the Leader of the Opposition,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar replied to queries. Meanwhile, the BJP’s state incharge Kaptan Singh Solanki also briefed the BJP top brass on Monday about the developments in the state.
Sources said that the crisis for the party started when Mr Kataria made some remarks against former party MP Kiran Maheshwari which she countered in the local media. Both the leaders hail from Udaipur. When Mr Kataria later declared his intention to take out a yatra, it was opposed by Ms Maheshwari, considered close to Ms Raje, and others in the party. Even the Rajasthan BJP core committee decided Mr Kataria should not take out a yatra and Ms Raje went public with her threat to quit if he does not give up, triggering the crisis. Sources said some changes in the party organisation in Rajasthan may also take place in the near future as part of a formula worked out to set the house in order.