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Have no conflict with Vasundhara Raje, says BJP’s Rajasthan chief Satish Poonia
The ruling party generally wins by-polls. But there is anti-incumbency against the government. By the time Congress will wake-up, we will complete half of the work, says Poonia
Satish Poonia has been the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Rajasthan chief since 2019. He took over the leadership months after the party lost power in the state to the Congress. In an interview with Jaykishan Sharma, Poonia spoke about reports of infighting within the BJP state unit, by-polls, local elections, and the assembly’s budget session. Edited excerpts:
Your statements on former chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s role in state politics have triggered speculation about divisions within the BJP in the state. How would you respond to the speculation?
Our party does not run as per statements. Social media create divides. There is no conflict between us... The central leadership decides the role of senior leaders. The Congress had to remove its state president and few ministers. Being the party’s president in the state, it is my role to keep everybody together. There is no gap between leaders in the state. This is the positive side that we have many leaders. Earlier, people used to say that we do not have good leaders in the state.
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What are the reasons for BJP’s dismal performance in the local elections?
Local election results are always favourable to the ruling party. When the Congress was in the Opposition, it secured 25 seats, but we have won 39. Out of 48, the Congress led only in 19 boards. In the rest, they have allied with Independents. The mandate is against the state government. For the first time in the state’s history, out of 21 zila parishads, they were ahead of us only in five. It is a big failure of the government.
We lost a year to Covid-19 but still raised issues like the increase in the electricity fee. The state government accused us of violating Covid norms. ...hundreds of cases were registered against our party leaders. We have planned big agitations against the government on the issues of inflation, deteriorating law and order situation, and atrocities against women.
How are you preparing for by-polls to four assembly seats?
The ruling party generally wins by-polls. But there is anti-incumbency against the government. By the time Congress will wake-up, we will complete half of the work. Our senior leaders are working at the grassroots level and have started booth management. I have also visited the four constituencies. Two senior leaders will be deputed for every seat. Our organizational strength is better.
What is the party’s strategy for the assembly’s budget session?
We will raise the issues of farm loan waiver, corruption, deteriorating law, and order situation. For the first time, 580,000 cases have been registered in the state, which shows rising crime, especially against women. Two were killed in a gang war in Churu. The Congress had promised a loan waiver for 6.9 million farmers. But nothing has happened. BJP legislators have also prepared details of regional problems and failures of the government.
