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Vasundhara Raje addresses meetings, participates in BJP meet amid ambiguity over role
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders appeared to be closing ranks in poll-bound Rajasthan ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Jaipur rally
Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje addressed two meetings, participated in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) core committee deliberations, and met Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is seen to be her rival, over the weekend as the Opposition party leaders in poll-bound Rajasthan appeared to be closing ranks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Jaipur rally on Monday.
Her absence earlier from the BJP’s Parivartan Sankalp Yatras for drumming up support ahead of polls this year triggered speculation about a rift within the party amid an ambiguity about Raje’s role. BJP leaders have maintained Raje is a respected leader and involved in all the party’s activities.
In a post in Hindi on social media platform X ahead of Modi’s rally, Raje on Sunday asked people to join it. “Come together, bring change.” She wrote Modi will guide the BJP workers.
Raje was present at the flagging off ceremonies of four Parivartan Sankalp Yatras but did not participate in any of them, unlike ahead of earlier elections when she was the BJP’s face. Ahead of the 2023 polls, the BJP is banking on collective leadership and not projecting any particular leader as the chief ministerial candidate. Raje’s supporters have been clamouring for making her the BJP’s face.
Raje’s exclusion from the BJP’s Election Manifesto Committee and Election Management Committee also triggered speculation about the rift. Raje earlier camped in Delhi. People aware of the matter said she met party leaders to get some clarity on her role but things remain ambiguous.
Against this backdrop, Raje on Saturday organised a meeting of women from across the state at her residence to thank Modi for the passage of the women’s reservation bill. She said the women have been her strength and she would not leave Rajasthan and serve them and raise their issues.
On Sunday, she addressed another meeting and highlighted the vulnerable position of women in Rajasthan. She said women faced daily atrocities and there was no redressal. She said women have to step forward and take matters into their own hands to change the situation.
Shekhawat later on Sunday met Raje at her residence in Jaipur. Raje and Shekhawat are considered rivals. She is believed to have stalled an attempt to make Shekhawat the state BJP president in 2018.
