In the absence of Leader of the Opposition Vasundhara Raje, former Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria tried to emerge as state leader with a tacit approval of Sangh Parivar.
Though he was forced to call off his rath yatra five months ago after Ms Raje opposed it, thereafter he extensively toured the state by covering 20 districts.
“He is on his way to expand his horizon,” says a saffron leader.
The factionalism and distance between the two camps in the BJP was palpable when the party leaders met at the important core committee meeting on Monday in Jaipur. It was openly visible that Ms Raje’s camp followers skipped the meeting — the MLAs considered close to Ms Raje opted to keep away from the meeting — says an insider. Ms Raje’s absence was also conspicuous.
According to the sources, the RSS-backed leaders were present in the core committee meeting but leaders known as loyal to the former CM also failed to turn up in the meeting. The party had asked the MLAs and 4 MPs to be present at the meeting but 58 MLAs and 4 MPs did not pay heed to the whip.
The committee meeting was organised to formulate a strategy to launch a massive protest against the state government as well as against the UPA government at the Centre.
On the other hand, former home minister Kataria toured 20 districts and addressed several meetings of the party workers.