Vasundhara Raje breaks silence, says people of Rajasthan paying for discord within Cong
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 18
Even as the power tussle between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy-turned-rebel Congress leader Sachin Pilot continues to get from bad to worse, the situation in the state BJP is also getting curiouser by the day.
After countrywide speculations regarding her “silence”, former Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje today finally made her first reaction on the political crisis in the state.
Raje said it is “unfortunate that the people of Rajasthan are paying for the discord within the Congress”. The interest of people must be paramount for the government, she said, asking the ruling Congress to think about the people.
“There is no point in trying to drag the BJP and its leaders’ names through the mud! It is the interest of our people that must remain paramount!” she added, recounting problems currently being faced by the people in the state, including Covid crisis, locusts’ outbreak, all-time high crime against women.
#RajasthanFirst pic.twitter.com/tkOKWCi2Sz
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) July 18, 2020
This on a day when senior Rajasthan BJP leader and MLA Kailash Meghwal said the conspiracy to topple the democratically elected government in the state through horse-trading is wrong. In an apparent comment on his own party, which is blaming Congress internal issues for the crisis, Meghwal opposed the “ongoing buying and selling” of MLAs to oust the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government.
“BJP is a party with character and morality,” the senior leader, believed to be close to the Raje camp, was quoted as saying. “There is a conspiracy to topple the government through horse-trading, which I do not believe to be right,” he said.
In an earlier letter, Meghwal who has held top positions said, “The kind of environment which has been in place for the last two months to bring down the government, horse-trading is happening, allegations are being made, it is very unfortunate.”
Read also: BJP questions Congress on ‘illegal’ phone-tapping in Rajasthan, demands CBI probe
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The Congress infighting has brought to fore factionalism within the Rajasthan BJP. Just like the Congress, the BJP too is faction-ridden, having more than one aspirant for the Chief Minister’s post.
Hanuman Beniwal, national convener of NDA ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, accused Raje of trying to influence Congress MLAs close to her to save the Gehlot government. Though he is no longer with the BJP, observers say Beniwal couldn’t have made such serious allegations without the backing of the BJP’s central leadership.
Apparently despite being asked to come over to Jaipur, Raje has decided to stay away so far. Raje, who is known to have a mind of her own on issues, had held her ground in 2018 against someone as powerful as Shah, the then BJP president over the selection of the state unit chief.
