Raje tightens grip as BJP looks for leader in assembly

JAIPUR: AFTER displaying unity in the recently held Rajya Sabha elections, the Rajasthan BJP legislators are now gearing up to appoint the leader of opposition in the state assembly. The post has been falling vacant for over three months after resignation of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje who is now the general secretary of the party.

The results of Rajya Sabha elections have once again reiterated the clout of Ms Raje over the BJP legislators. Her strategy of alienating legislators to a resort till elections paid off with both BJP candidates — V P Singh and Ram Jethmalani — entering the Upper House.

“Ms Raje was in complete control over the legislators. Had she not been there, Mr Jethmalani would have found it difficult to get through. It was her dominance that coerced BJP MLAs to vote for the ‘paratrooper’ candidate Mr Jethmalani,” says a party member.

Role of Ms Raje in this victory clearly indicates that the next leader of opposition would be her trusted lieutenant. In this case, chances of senior leaders like Gulab Chand Kataria and Ghanshyam Tiwari looks bleak. They are known Raje detractors. “Ms Raje is unlikely to give her nod to their names. She may prop up names of Rao Rajendra Singh and tribal leader Nand Lal Meena who are known to be her close aides,” says a party leader.

According to party sources, consensus on Mr Meena is more likely as it would help the saffron party to penetrate deep in the strong tribal vote bank. The party had to suffer badly in the previous elections as its tribal vote bank had shifted to Congress and independents after tribal leader Kirori Lal Meena quit BJP. “There has been a vacuum after Kirori Lal Meena. Nand Lal Meena, though of smaller stature than Kirori Lal, can win back the strong tribal vote bank for the saffron party which had been proved decisive in 2003 elections when Ms Raje had come to power,” says political analyst Narendra Singh.