As BJP Chalks Out Rajasthan Poll Plan, Meghwal vs Meghwal Out In The Open

Jaipur:

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday moved swiftly to quash a Meghwal vs Meghwal civil war in its Rajasthan ranks – shortly before an Assembly election – by suspending MLA Kailash Meghwal after he doubled down on last month’s all-out attack against Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. The matter has been referred to a disciplinary committee

Last month Kailash Meghwal called Arjun Ram Meghwal “corrupt number 1” and alleged, among other misdeeds, he took bribes worth crores as an official in Churu district. Today he repeated that and alleged ‘gutbaazi‘, or factionalism, within the BJP’s Rajasthan unit. “BJP mein oopar se neeche gut (From top to bottom, there are divisions in the BJP),” he declared.

Mr Meghwal also accused the state unit of targeting of those close to ex-Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and pointed fingers at senior leaders, including ex-state unit boss Satish Poonia. “BJP mein bhee gut hai… Vasundhara ke logon ko chunn chunn ke khatam kiya jaa raha hai (There are divisions in BJP also… Vasundhara’s people are being picked and destroyed.”

“I am ignored. From ‘hero’ I have gone to ‘zero’. I am in no yatra of the BJP,” said Mr Meghwal, who has often found himself at odds with the party line; a notable example was his “unfortunate” swipe at the BJP after reports it was conspiring with ex-Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and some disgruntled Congress MLAs to topple Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s government.

His remarks then were praised by Mr Gehlot.

The MLA from Rajasthan’s Shahpura was careful, though, to distance himself from direct criticism of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, “I am not angry with (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji.”

He also said he had written to the Prime Minister presenting his views.

A defiant Mr Meghwal, a veteran politician who has earlier been a Union Minister of State, the BJP’s National Vice-President and is a six-time MLA, declared he would fight this election on his own.

The accusations come with an Assembly election due this year in a state the BJP is hoping to wrest back from the Congress.

The BJP will hope to take advantage of its rival as it battling internal crises of its own; the Gehlot-Pilot feud, which nearly brought down the government in 2020, has not yet been resolved.

The opposition party has not yet released a first list of candidates for the Rajasthan election but reports indicate it will favour new faces and, crucially, turn to younger people as it looks for an overhaul of its profile in the state.