Things do not seem to be going the right way for the Former CM of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje, who is the the front contender for the CM face of the saffron party in coming elections.
She has retorted on the statement made by CM Gehlot ‘praising’ her for not supporting the leaders of the BJP in toppling the Congress government in the state.
"No one can insult me as much as Gehlot did. CM Gehlot's praising me is a big conspiracy against me. He is creating such fabricated stories to avoid the historic defeat in the 2023 elections, which is unfortunate but his ploy is not going to be successful," said Raje in her statement.
Raje's strong reaction came late on Sunday night after CM Gehlot’s statement in Dholpur, which is the hometown of Vasundhara Raje. Gehlot, while speaking at an event there, had mentioned that Vasundhara Raje and former Assembly Speaker Kailash Meghwal "were not in favour of toppling the government elected by the people on the basis of money."
Accusing Gehlot of being the master of horse-trading of MLAs, Raje said, "At that time neither the BJP nor the Congress had got the majority. We could have formed the government. But it was against the principles of BJP. On the contrary, Gehlot formed the government both times by arranging MLAs," said Raje.
Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said that Gehlot is lying due to fear of defeat in 2023. "He has accused Home Minister Amit Shah, whose honesty and truthfulness are well known," said Raje, adding that taking and giving bribes are both crimes. "If Congress MLAs have taken money then Gehlot should register an FIR," she said.
Raje said that Gehlot made such outrageous and untrue allegations in his anger due to the rebellion in his own party and the mass base going into the abyss.
Notably, this is for the second time that Raje is facing such statements that are putting questions on her image of a loyal party leader. What is more damaging is that Gehlot’s statement came at a time when PM Narendra Modi is to visit Rajasthan on May 10th.
A few days ago, dissident leader of Congress Sachin Pilot, during his day-long fast on the issue of alleged corruption during the previous BJP government, had indirectly accused both Gehlot and Raje of being hand in gloves and said "now 6-7 months are left for the election and to prove that we are not hand in glove with our opponents, action should be taken."
Even then, Raje had to clarify her position by saying that many people had been deliberately telling the lie that they have colluded with their opponents. "How is collusion possible between different ideologies, with those from whom you heard unreasonable language every day? Can milk and lemon juice ever mix?" Raje had said.
