Two Rajasthan BJP poll panels named; Vasundhara Raje and Gajendra Shekhawat not in

Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Union minister Gajendra Shekhawat do not figure in BJP’s election management committee or manifesto committee announced on Thursday for Rajasthan assembly polls. BJP Rajasthan unit chief CP Joshi, Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore and former state unit chief Satish Poonia too were also not included in either list. The BJP leadership maintained that Raje and Shekhawat would feature in the campaign management committee.

While announcing the panels, BJP general secretary Arun Singh and state chief Joshi described Raje as a senior leader who would extensively campaign across Rajasthan. Raje, along with other senior leaders of BJP, will lead the Parivartan Yatra in the run up to the assembly polls. The 21-member state election management committee will be headed by former MP Narayan Lal Panchariya.

The 25-member panel tasked with preparing the election manifesto will be headed by Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. Senior leaders Kirori Lal Meena, Ghanshyam Tiwari and former Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore figure in the lists. The welfare schemes started by Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot may pose a serious challenge to BJP in Rajasthan, where the incumbent party has been voted out since 1998.


The leadership question also looms large over BJP. Though Raje is considered the tallest mass leader, a section of the party’s central leadership insists on contesting the polls under a collective leadership this time