Jaipur: BJP national president JP Nadda will arrive in Jaipur on Tuesday in a bid to infuse unity in the rift-ridden party and to motivate leaders and workers ahead of the four assembly by-polls.
This is Nadda’s first visit to Rajasthan after becoming the national president, and the BJP wants to make it a grand event.
During his six-hour stay in Jaipur, Nadda will address a meeting of the BJP state executive at the Birla auditorium.
Nadda will land at Jaipur airport at 10 am and then leave for Birla auditorium. He will be welcomed by party workers at nine places en route to the venue. BJP flags have been put up across the city, and the venue too has been decorated in the colours of the BJP flag.
There will be a cultural programme before the start of the meeting. The meeting has been divided into five sessions, and Nadda will address the inaugural session. He will also inaugurate a photo exhibition on former state BJP president Bhanwarlal Sharma. After the meeting, he will head to the Kali Bari temple in Malviya Nagar around 2.30 pm. From there, he will leave for the airport and return to Delhi.
The meeting will be attended by all office-bearers of the state executive, the core committee of the state, office-bearers in the state unit, district incharges and district presidents, heads of the different BJP cells, MPs, MLAs, and mayors.
Three days back, state BJP president Satish Poonia had apprised Nadda in Delhi about the preparations for the four assembly by-polls and organisational programmes and issues within the Rajasthan unit, which has been hit by factionalism.
In the recent weeks, there have been several developments that have pointed to a growing divide in the party. Supporters of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje say the party has sidelined her, and have been openly voicing their discontent and calling for Raje to be the CM face in the 2023 assembly elections.
Raje’s supporters are preparing for a grand show for her on her birthday on March 8. Raje is planning to undertake a religious yatra on the Krishna circuit in Bharatpur district on March 8.
Some MLAs from the Raje camp have also complained to Poonia about not being allotted time to speak in the assembly by the leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria and deputy leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore.
Rajasthan incharge Arun Singh, who was in Jaipur a few days back, also tried to address the issue of factionalism by meeting the Raje camp MLAs and listening to their grievances. He asked them to stay within the party line and speak to party leaders instead of making their complaints public.
