Jaipur: Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who is a national vice-president of the BJP, is fast losing her clout in the party. While the BJP kept her out of the campaigning in the two phases of the Lok Sabha election recently, Vasundhara Raje was still in demand in the state as the most popular leader, but she was sparingly used for the campaign. However, Vasundhara was requisitioned by the party’s candidates to campaign their area.
Vasundhara along with Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Raman Singh were made the party’s national vice president. But the party never used them for the campaigning.
However, both Shivraj and Vasundhara in their own way actively campaigned. Vasundhara Raje was assigned the job to work in Maharashtra, but she did not go there and was not involved in the party’s selection of candidates or for any other political work. She was keen to contest the election, but she was not allowed.
For the last two phases of the Lok Sabha election, she wanted to go to Madhya Pradesh and campaign in areas that fall under the Gwalior division as she is from Gwalior and is married in the royal family of Dholpur while her mother Vijaya Raje Scindia was the founder of the erstwhile Jan Sangh which became BJP later. But the party did not respond to her wishes to go to Gwalior and campaign there.
In fact, it is being seen that the party’s general secretary Om Mathur, who is from the RSS and member of the Rajya Sabha, is not only very close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah but also the principal strategist of the BJP. He is being more recognised than Vasundhara Raje.
He is likely to get a good assignment at the Centre if the BJP comes to power again. Mathur, a bachelor has been an organisational man and has served in the state for long years before the party chose him for the organisational work at the party’s headquarter. If the BJP comes to power after the results on May 23, the role of Mathur will be seen both in the state as well in national politics.
The Ashok Gehlot government will face the problem if the party does not get enough seats in the election. The party lost all the 25 seats in the 2014 elections and this time also the results are not going to make the Congress happy as the BJP enjoys an edge in the state. If the Congress fares poorly in the Lok Sabha, the party would face turmoil in the state with MLAs demanding change in leadership.