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Gujjurs protest: BJP shifts national executive meeting
The outbreak of Gujjar violence forces the BJP to shift its national executive meeting from Jaipur to Delhi, upsetting its plans to use the conclave to launch poll campaign in Rajasthan.
The outbreak of Gujjar violence on Saturday forced the BJP to shift its national executive meeting from Jaipur to Delhi, upsetting its plans to use the conclave to launch a high-voltage campaign in poll-bound Rajasthan.
The three-day executive meeting, scheduled to begin from May 31, will now be a two-day affair and would be held in New Delhi on June one and two.
Interestingly, this is the second time the party had to shift the national executive meeting from Jaipur.
Last year also the party had to move its national executive from Jaipur to Delhi in the wake of the violent Gujjar agitation demanding Scheduled Tribe status for the community.
The decision to shift the national executive was taken at a meeting of the office bearers in New Delhi, chaired by party chief Rajnath Singh and attended among others by senior leader LK Advani and Jaswant Singh.
The return of the Gujjar agitation, barely months ahead of the Assembly polls, has put the party in a spot of bother as it may affect its prospects.
"Any trouble during the national executive could have attracted the media attention and fuelled negative publicity," a senior leader remarked.
The party also wanted to use the executive platform to project unity in the faction-ridden Rajasthan state unit where a rebellion against Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had been simmering for long.
