Decision likely today as state heads to polls later this year; post had been lying vacant due to differences on contenders between Shah and Raje.
New Delhi: The BJP’s Rajasthan unit may finally get a new state chief later today. Sources said the names for the post would be discussed at the party’s Rajasthan core committee meeting scheduled for today. A decision on the contenders is expected during the meeting but the announcement may only be made later.
The post has been lying vacant for two months — ever since outgoing chief Ashok Parnami resigned on April 18 — due to differences between party president Amit Shah and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje on possible names for Parnami’s successor.
With assembly elections slated for later this year, the BJP may now move to fill the void.
Sources said that while Amit Shah has been backing Jodhpur MP and minister of state for agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for the post, Raje has been adamant, citing caste combinations, that it should either be state urban development and housing minister Shrichand Kriplani or the state social justice and empowerment minister Arun Chaturvedi.
“Though Chaturvedi and Raje were once bitter rivals, he mended his ways and she even suggested his name for the post of state chief when there was no consensus on other names. It is now come to the light that Raje may agree to Shekhawat but not without conditions,” the source said.
Shah may have the last word
The differences between Shah and Raje over the state BJP president’s post reached such a level that the duo reportedly had a tiff over it in Delhi. “Raje had made it clear that she would need to be considered while selecting the chief as elections are approaching and BJP would not like to upset her,” stated the source. Sources said that Shekhawat is likely to get nod from the committee.
“Raje may agree to his name on the condition that she will have a say in the party’s election committee and she will be announced CM candidate ahead of elections,” said a highly placed source.
In April and May this, many state ministers and BJP MLAs came calling on important union ministers in Delhi, to put pressure on the central leadership and to rally for Raje’s choice for the post. In a meeting with Ram Lal, the BJP national general secretary (organisation), the Rajasthan leaders blamed caste as the reason for not backing Shekhawat. “They argued that if a Rajput is made the state chief, Jats would vote against the BJP,” said the source.
RSS played mediator
Sources claimed that the issue of the Rajasthan chief post lying vacant cropped up during the three-day ‘review’ meeting of BJP ministers, Amit Shah and the RSS top brass in Delhi last month.
“A senior functionary of the RSS suggested that Shah should not stretch the matter to the point where everything will collapse. The RSS also got in touch with Raje. It was pressed upon both the parties to come to a conclusion as the elections are approaching and delaying it would only harm the party,” added the source.