BJP hopes for ‘parivartan’ in upcoming Rajasthan polls

But the jury’s out on whether it has made a mistake by not making Vasundhara Raje — or any other BJP leader — the CM’s face in the state

Between 2003 and 2018, Vasundhara Raje was the face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan. Raje helmed four BJP yatras in the state and led the BJP to decisive victory twice — in 2003 and 2013. For the past two decades, Raje was the most powerful and popular leader of the party in Rajasthan. She has been the CM twice, a five-time member of Parliament, and is, at present, the BJP’s national vice president.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje. (PTI)

Recently however, the party declared that no leader will be projected as the CM face, and the election will be fought under prime minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and the lotus symbol. The party took out Parivartan yatras rallies this time too, ahead of the year-end polls, but without Raje. Besides the launch, she did not participate in any of the four statewide yatras held in September.

“In this election, our face is the lotus. We have to ensure the lotus wins a heavy mandate. Our only ummeed (confidence) and ummedwar (candidate) is the lotus. We will ensure the lotus blooms in Rajasthan,” the PM, who was in the state last week, said in his rallies in Jaipur and Chittorgarh.

Modi’s message was clear — that the party will not project any CM face for the assembly polls due at the end of the year — and no leader should be under the impression that he or she is bigger than the party.

In an indirect reference to the persisting factionalism in the party which has created confusion among BJP workers, Modi sought to impress on them that they should not seek to follow any leader, but rather give primacy to the organisation.

Union home minister Amit Shah and the BJP national president were in Jaipur on September 27 to hold meetings with state leaders where they curtly told them to work unitedly for the party and cautioned that tickets of several sitting MLAs could be cut.

One BJP leader reasoned that by going faceless, the BJP has blunted the edge of the Congress. In an interview with HT, Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said the lack of a CM candidate by the BJP is a “big problem” for the Congress.

On the face of it, the BJP does not want to admit anything is wrong.

Party leader Sunil Bhargava said Raje was not being sidelined or ignored and neither was she miffed with the party. “The party wants to promote younger leadership. It is part of the national policy of the party and this is happening across states. See Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, and Gujarat. Even in Madhya Pradesh, the CM is not being projected nor is former CM Raman Singh being projected in Chhattisgarh. It is the same case in Rajasthan. There was no ill will against any individual. And she is attending all party meetings and programmes,” he said.

Union minister and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said Raje is not angry and there is no divide in the party. On her absence from the BJP yatras, he said, “I think it is her nature. She was there for the inaugurals. She also had personal reasons for not participating in all the yatras. Also in the BJP, no one individual is bigger than the party. We are all working together for the party.”

Other BJP leaders too, have been at pains to clarify that Raje is not being sidelined. Rajasthan incharge Arun Singh and state BJP president CP Joshi have said on many occasions that Raje is a senior leader and she is fully onboard with the BJP’s election campaign. However, Raje is not included in the two election committees formed till now. There is speculation that she could head the election campaign committee, but it has not been constituted as yet.

Raje’s strength is her ability to connect with people, whether party workers or the public. She had a secular image which made her acceptable to all communities. Her knowledge and hold on bureaucracy made her an able administrator. However, she is accused of nepotism and promoting those close to her. There were also several allegations of corruption against her though none have been substantiated.

Insiders said that the Raje saga goes back to the 2018 polls. At the time, Amit Shah who was then BJP national president, wanted to appoint Gajendra Singh Shekhawat as the state BJP president. Raje stalled his appointment saying two Rajputs (herself and Shekhawat) at top posts would send the wrong message to the voters. Even political analysts said that the BJP would lose the polls because of Raje’s rising unpopularity. A political slogan even came up during the elections — “Modi tujhse bair nahi, Vasundhara teri khair nahi” (We have no truck with Modi, we do not care for Vasundhara) — to express voters’ discontent with the 70 -year-old. The origins of this slogan remain unclear.

After that Raje slowly moved into the background. She was absent from most party meetings, programmes and dharnas. Her face also vanished from posers put outside the party office in Jaipur. However, when the party put up new posters earlier this year, Raje featured in them.

The BJP lost the 2018 assembly polls, but won all the 25 seats in the Lok Sabha polls held a few months later.

While some analysts were surprised at the leadership's neglect of Raje, others maintain a lot has changed in 20 years. The BJP has changed. There is a new, powerful leadership in Delhi with whom Raje shares tenuous ties. Since 2018 when the BJP lost the assembly polls, Raje no longer commands the authority she once had in the party. A younger leadership is being promoted in the state. Raje’s supporters contend that she remains the BJP’s most popular leader and without her, the party cannot win.

Recently, Devi Singh Bhati, a senior leader and Raje confidante, returning to the party fold after five years, openly called for making her the CM face. He said that he returned at the instance of the central leadership, but he has toned down his utterances since.

On her part, Raje has tried to return to the spotlight – since last year she has visited religious places in the state and addressed gatherings. This, say analysts, is a show of strength meant to send a message to the party's high command. She has also met Central leaders, and RSS leaders, patched up with state leaders with whom she had differences to turn them into allies and has had supporters lobby for her.

Raje’s relations with RSS leaders who are powerful in Rajasthan politics too have not been smooth. When she was CM, Prakash Chand was the state general secretary (organisation) and the two were often cold towards each other. However, a couple of months ago, Raje reportedly met Chand. She also met RSS leader Nimbaram in Jodhpur a couple of days back.

A senior leader and former minister in the Raje government was of the view that there was a clash of personalities. “There are aspirations in politics. Everyone wants to grow but the space at the top keeps shrinking,” he said.

He said Raje and Modi were CMs at the same time like Shivraj Chouhan and Raman Singh. Raje is currently BJP national vice president and incharge of Jharkhand.

“Raje speaks her mind which might not be taken kindly by the high command,” he added. But he said the BJP works on the principle that no one is bigger than the party. “All those who left, returned, from Uma Bharti to Kalyan Singh to Ghanhsyam Tiwari and Devi Singh Bhati in Rajasthan,” he said.

He was of the view that Raje would reconcile to the new power shift for her and her son’s political future. “The talk of Raje damaging the party is not correct. She will remain in the party and work for it,” he said.

Political analyst Narayan Bareth is critical of the BJP’s strategy to ignore senior leaders like Raje. “The BJP leadership has given a clear indication that Raje has been sidelined. But this process is undemocratic. It is the duty of political parties to groom leaders. The BJP is ignoring time-tested leaders and promoting novices,” he said.

He said Modi was promoting himself as the face in all poll-bound states – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. “Political parties should encourage regional leaders who have the potential to rise to the post of PM. If you don’t develop regional leaders, the party will become weak,” he added.

“In assembly polls, the victory margin is often very small. If Raje’s supporters feel demoralised and don’t work, it could impact the party in the polls.”

A close confidant of Raje said on the condition of anonymity that by not projecting Raje as the face the BJP is damaging its electoral prospects.

"Raje is a mass leader. In this election, the people and workers are saying that without Raje the BJP cannot win. Every election has different issues and a different sentiment," he said.

He pointed out that there was confusion in the party owing to collective leadership.

"The party has not been able to decide on tickets and is confused about candidates. There is some time for the election, but they are confused from the beginning stage only."

This copy has been updated with quotes from another senior leader who spoke to HT about Vasundhara Raje.