Rajasthan BJP headless since April due to Vasundhara Raje-Amit Shah differences
Differences between chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah have delayed the appointment of a new president of the party’s Rajasthan unit by more than a month now , two BJP leaders familiar with the matter said.
Ashok Parnami – a Raje loyalist – resigned as Rajasthan BJP chief on April 18, as the party swung into damage control mode after losses in by-election to two Lok Sabha and one assembly constituencies and ahead of state elections later this year..
Shah wants to appoint Jodhpur member of parliament (MP) Gajendra Shekhawat, who is also a union minister, as the new chief, a move that hasn’t elicited much support from Raje, one of the party leaders cited above said on condition of anonymity. She had earlier red-flagged a proposal to appoint Arjun Meghjwal, also a union minister, as a replacement for Parnami, he said. “The CM feels a president who does not belong to her camp could be trouble closer to the election.”
Raje, according to the second leader cited above, wants her loyalist Srichand Kriplani, a minister in the state government, to be the Rasthan head of the BJP, which would help her control the state unit. Kriplani’s name hasn’t evoked much enthusiasm among the party’s central leadership, the second leader said, requesting not to be named.
“An announcement will be made soon,” BJP’s in-charge for Rajasthan Avinash Rai Khanna said. “It got was delayed because party seniors were busy with Karnataka elections.” Shah is expected to be in Rajasthan soon.
The BJP’s state unit chiefs in Madhya Pradesh, which is also due for assembly polls, and Andhra Pradesh also resigned this year. Their replacements have already been named.
“A decision about Rajasthan got delayed because of a tug-ofwar between Jaipur and Delhi,” the second leader said. “We expect Delhi to have last laugh.”
People familiar with the issue said Raje had demanded that the part V Satish, the BJP’s joint organisational secretary looking after Rajasthan matters, with his contemporary Saudan Singh, with whom she has a better working relationship. Both Satish and Singh are Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteers loaned to the BJP, and have been active in the party for more than a decade now.
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