Raj BJP leader seeks Raje’s resignation

NEWDELHI: A Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has written to national party president Amit Shah demanding that he remove Vasundhara Raje from the post of the chief minister for the rout in recent bye-elections for two Lok Sabha and one assembly seat.

Kota BJP’S OBC morcha chief Ashok Chowdhury wrote to Shah saying “Raje’s style of functioning has lowered the morale of party workers” and she should be removed from the post for the workers to face the next election with a new energy. “I stand by every word of the letter,” he said.

In 2014, the BJP won Alwar with a margin of 2.83 lakh votes and Ajmer by 1.71 lakh votes. It lost both these seats to the Congress by a margin of 1.96 lakh votes (Alwar) and 84,414 votes (Ajmer) on February 3.

A BJP leader, who chose to remain anonymous, said V Satish, the RSS’ pointsmen in the BJP, was examining the party’s performance and will brief Shah.

While the party’s central leadership is averse to any knee-jerk reaction, several ‘corrective measures’, such as removing state president Ashok Pranami, are being discussed, party officials said.

Pranami is a Raje confidant and critics blame him for allowing the chief minister to run the party according to her wishes.

The party is also wary of getting a new team ahead of elections, as any rift between the new chief and Raje will further compound the party’s woes.

A Lok Sabha MP from Rajasthan LS elections are due immediately after the assembly election in Rajasthan and repeating the 2014 result will be difficult.