In an unexpected turn of events on Sunday, Union minister and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat called on former Chief Minister and party colleague Vasundhara Raje at her residence. The meeting assumes significance as it came just a day ahead of the official launch of the BJP’s campaign for the Rajasthan elections with a massive rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jaipur today.
Raje and Shekhawat have been at odds since the former objected to Shekhawat’s appointment as the president of the state BJP unit in 2018. Raje had then claimed that doing so would send a wrong signal to the Jaat community in the state. Late Madan Lal Saini, former Rajya Sabha MP from the Mali community, was eventually appointed to the post. He was succeeded by Satish Poonia and CP Joshi (incumbent).
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The meeting was seen as part of the BJP’s attempts to send a message that the party was united as it enters the poll fray in the state five years after being displaced from power by the Congress party.
The PM’s visit on Monday will address a Parivartan Maha Sammelan in Jaipur which will mark the culmination of the four Parivartan Yatras organised by the party as part of its public outreach campaign. Raje’s absence from the yatra — which cumulatively travelled across all 200 assembly constituencies to build momentum for the party ahead of the state elections — in her home turf Jhalawar had sent tongues wagging about the internal crisis the BJP faces in the state.
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SInce her loss in the 2018 elections, Raje has been sidelined and out of favour with the central leadership of the BJP. However, Raje on Sunday attended the BJP’s core committee meeting at the BJP office in Jaipur. Raje has not been a regular feature at these meetings lately and was rarely seen attending party events.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to hold a mega rally in Dadiya in Sanganer, 16 km south of Jaipur, today. He is also scheduled to participate in a public meeting on the passing of the women’s reservation bill. The entire task of organising the event is being handled by the BJP’s women’s wing. They will command 42 blocks of the “Parivartan Sankalp Mahasabha”, and also shower flower petals on the PM has he reaches the stage in an open jeep.
Ahead of the rally, PM Modi will also pay respects to Deendayal Upadhyaya at a memorial constructed at his native place in Dhankya Village, about 40 km from the venue.
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