Jaipur: After Congress now it is BJP in Rajasthan where factionalism has surfaced once again. The loyalist leaders of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje are annoyed with the removal of Raje’s picture from the poster outside the party headquarter in Jaipur and saying that there is no alternative to Raje in Rajasthan. BJP's state president, Satish Poonia, said that these kind of statements are not in limits of the party, while another office bearer of the party said that "we are a party where the organization is supreme and not individual".
For the last one week, it was the Congress where the war of words was going on in factions of the party, which now seems to come to a halt, and now it is BJP camps of state party leadership and former CM Vasundhra Raje, seems to be on same lines.
In the last four days, three Raje loyalist leaders, former MLA Bhawani Singh Rajawat and Prhalad Gunjal and one existing MLA Pratap Singh Singhvi have said that the party cannot ignore Raje as she is the only 'mass leader' of the party in the state.
Singhvi said, "there is no alternative to Raje in Rajasthan. She can swing the votes up to 15-20 per cent and that’s the reason that party got full majority twice under her leadership and it shows that she is the most powerful leader of the party in the state".
Notably, all these leaders had voiced the same thing two months ago and convened a meeting in Kota in favour of Raje. A show of strength was organized in the name of 'Dharmik yatra' on her birthday by supporters in Bartapur district in March this year.
While countering Singhvi and other leaders statements, the party’s state president Satish Poonia said, "it is time to fight Congress and such statements are not in the limits of the party". He said that everybody gets a chance to express themselves on party platform, but these statements on public platform are not in the interest of the party.
While party’s vice president Madan Dilawar said that we are the party where the organization is supreme. Though he did not name Raje but said that our former organization Jansangh had removed its national president from the primary membership of the party when he got egoistic. He said, "one should not have a fallacy that without him or her the party will not function".
It all started after the removal of Raje’s picture from the poster outside party headquarter in Jaipur and was seen as a move to ignore Raje, who happens to be a two time Chief Minister. Although party state president Satish Poonia had clarified that it was done according to guidelines of the party and there is nothing political in it.
It is also to be mention that the party’s state executive committee meeting is scheduled on 22nd June and sources in the party say that emergence of such controversy before the meeting is indicating a ‘happening’ meeting as leaders of all factions in the party will participate in it.
