BJP sources said that the former Rajasthan chief minister was in New Delhi on Thursday.
Jaipur:
Senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje’s absence from the last leg of her party’s Parivartan Yatra on her home ground, the Hadoti area of Rajasthan comprising Kota, Bundi and Jhalawar, has raised questions.
Ms Raje, who was missing from Jhalawar, a constituency she has represented for the past 33 years as MP and MLA, and also from the Parivartan Yatra that ended in Kota on Thursday evening, has sparked speculation about her future in the BJP.
Her absence from the rally, which was attended by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and her son Dushyant Singh, was noticeable and led to a lacklustre response from the crowds where a better turnout was expected considering Ms Raje’s mass appeal in the area.
Ms Raje’s absence is even more conspicuous given the fact that chief ministers from other BJP-ruled states, such as Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma, flew in to add some energy to the party’s campaign.
BJP sources said that the former Rajasthan chief minister was in New Delhi on Thursday for personal reasons.
Mr Sarma was asked a question about Ms Raje’s absence, but he brushed it aside, saying, “We are all one when we say Bharat Mata ki Jai. At that point, we all stand together.”
BJP spokesperson Vikas Barhat denied that Ms Raje’s absence from the Parivartan Yatra was due to a rift or her annoyance at not being projected as the party’s chief ministerial candidate. He said that if Ms Raje was in Delhi, it was probably for meetings with the party’s high command.
Ms Raje’s loyalists Prahlad Gunjal, former Kota North MLA, and Bhawani Singh Rajawat, a three-time former MLA from Rajawat, welcomed the Parivaartan Rath as it entered Kota but neither of them made it to the final stage and public meeting at the Ummaid Singh Stadium.
Assam’s Chief Minister Sarma addressed the public meeting at the stadium and was accompanied on stage by former minister Prabhulal Saini, Kalpana Raje, and other local BJP MLAs.
Kota is considered a BJP stronghold, and the lacklustre end to the Parivartan Yatra has sent signals that all may not be well within the party, which is still beset by factionalism.
