A series of visits by national leaders in the coming weeks will set the stage for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s preparations for the 2023 assembly elections in Rajasthan. The visits are also expected to reinforce the national leadership’s decision to not name a chief ministerial candidate and get the state unit battle-ready by setting aside differences among senior leaders.
In May, the national leadership specified the election will be fought with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the face and the decision to pick the chief minister will be withheld till after the polls to prevent the fractures in the state unit from widening and to end the quibbles for leadership.
A functionary aware of the details said Union home minister Amit Shah and national general secretary Arun Singh, who is also the in-charge of the state, will be in Rajasthan beginning next week. BJP president JP Nadda is also expected to travel to the state.
“Singh will be travelling to Jhunjhunu, Sikar, and Jaipur between September 2 and 4 to attend a series of meetings with party leaders and also interact with groups of professionals and civil society members as part of the BJP’s outreach. National leaders are also expected to be present for a meeting of the party’s OBC Morcha scheduled to take place on September 9-10 in Jodhpur,” said the functionary, requesting anonymity.
The visits are planned against the backdrop of efforts being made to quell the tussle between the state leaders. “In recent months, the national leadership has tried to balance the aspirations of the state leaders. While the presence of the former chief minister and popular leader Vasundhara Raje at events and on the party’s posters is an indication of her being in the race, the appointment of her once-known baiter Om Mathur to the Parliamentary Board also signifies that the party is not pushing any person or faction to the forefront,” said a state leader, requesting anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}The visits are planned against the backdrop of efforts being made to quell the tussle between the state leaders. “In recent months, the national leadership has tried to balance the aspirations of the state leaders. While the presence of the former chief minister and popular leader Vasundhara Raje at events and on the party’s posters is an indication of her being in the race, the appointment of her once-known baiter Om Mathur to the Parliamentary Board also signifies that the party is not pushing any person or faction to the forefront,” said a state leader, requesting anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}The national leadership has also underlined concerns over the party’s inability of being an aggressive opposition and to put up a cohesive front to take on the Ashok Gehlot government.
In the last assembly election in 2018, the BJP won 73 of the 200 seats while the Congress bagged 100.