Ahead of election, infighting mars BJP meets in Jaipur rural, Barmer

The recent visit of senior BJP leaders to districts has brought to the fore infighting among local leaders in Rajasthan, said sources familiar with the developments in the party.

Rajasthan BJP in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna faced unruly scenes on Thursday during his visit to Jaipur rural. On Friday, there was chaos at a BJP meeting in Barmer after some workers accused the district president of working as a Congress agent, the sources said.

During the Barmer meeting chaired by Jaipur member of parliament Ramcharan Bohra, corporator Ratanlal Bohra alleged that the party was only listening to sycophants and local leaders have not understood the people’s problems.

The allegation led to heated arguments, with a leader asking those who had not been invited to leave the meeting. This upset some local leaders who too got up to leave, but were persuaded to stay back, sources said.

Those who were asked to leave assembled outside the party building in Barmer and started raising slogans. They also alleged that the district BJP president was working as an agent of the Congress, said the sources in the know of the developments.

On Thursday, during a meeting of block-level leaders and booth presidents in Chomu, a BJP worker asked why no MLA from the party has been elected from Amer for the past 20 years. This led to a heated argument and the matter was resolved after the intervention of senior leader Satish Puniya, sources said.

The meeting was attended by 50 leaders each from Chomu and Amer assembly constituencies. Sikar MP Sumedhanand Saraswati, Chomu MLA Ramlal Sharma and Jaipur rural district president Deendayal Kumawat took part.

Khanna’s meetings in other parts of Jaipur rural were also stormy affairs, sources said.

Downplaying the developments at the meetings, state BJP president Ashok Parnami said, “A mountain was made out of a molehill.” Calling it a minor incident, Chomu MLA Sharma said, “The matter has been sorted out amicably.”

Sources said the state BJP unit has taken serious note of the incidents and was contemplating action.

Senior leaders had toured different districts over the past 10 days to take stock of problems plaguing the state. During their stay, the leaders met party office-bearers and workers to take feedback on the functioning of the government.

Chief minister Vasundhara Raje will also launch a ‘vikas yatra’ on April 15 to cover all 200 assembly constituencies.

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