Vasundhara Raje, 2-Time Chief Minister, Still BJP’s Best-Known Face In Rajasthan

Jaipur:

Vasundhara Raje, erstwhile royal and the BJP’s tallest leader in Rajasthan, appears to be in the driving seat after being out of step for long with the party’s central leadership.

The 70-year-old, who has had her ups and downs in her relationship with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ever since her mother, Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia, one of the founding members of the Jan Sangh passed away.

But Ms Raje never completely toed the line of the BJP’s ideological mentor and her politics was always seen as being slightly more liberal than the right wing would have liked.

Ms Raje, who was sent to Rajasthan by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, has in the recent past known to have her differences with the party’s current top leadership.

Both Ms Raje and Prime Minister Narendra Modi started their careers as Chief Ministers and somewhere, the brass is seen as not being too comfortable with strong regional leaders like her, Shivraj Singh Chauhan or Raman Singh.

Her detractors said this is what happened this time when the first list of the BJP candidates in Rajasthan not only contained the names of various political rivals, but also left out several of her supporters. On top of it, the BJP did not announce Ms Raje as the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate or the campaign leader.

Rajasthan BJP chief CP Joshi has clearly pointed out that the question should not arise because the BJP parliamentary board has taken a decision not to go with a Chief Ministerial face and fighting the election on the party symbol instead.

But their joy was short-lived. The BJP’s second list of candidates, it appeared, went out of its way to placate Ms Raje, fielding as many as 27 of her supporters. But in the last list, Raje’s supporters like Arun Chaturvedi and Ashok Parnami did not find a place.

Ms Raje has been fielded from her favoured Jhalrapatan constituency.

The course correction, many said, was due to the BJP’s experience in Karnataka. Earlier this year, the party got badly singed after sidelining its tallest leader in the state, BS Yediyurappa, and losing dismally to the Congress.

It is not a risk the BJP can run in Rajasthan. Of the five states going to polls in this round, Rajasthan is seen as being the best bet for the party.

For over three decades, Rajasthan has voted out the incumbent without fail. But the ruling Congress, banking on its strong social welfare programmes and under the leadership of an aggressive Ashok Gehlot, appears confident.

Ms Raje – who handed BJP its big victory in 2013 had apparently lost points with the Central leadership after Mr Gehlot claimed that when his government was tottering after the rebellion of Sachin Pilot, she had refused to go along with Delhi’s plan of destabilising the government. He even thanked her for her high principles, leaving the BJP leader fuming.

The situation did not improve when, at a later date, Mr Gehlot claimed that Ms Raje’s act of rebellion had landed her in hot water with the BJP’s Central leadership.

For many insiders, such talk equated a direct line between Mr Gehlot and the BJP leader – not an ideal situation ahead of an election.

But their numbers have not been so large as to worry Ms Raje, who is one of the rare mass leaders of the party in the desert state. In a heterogeneous state like Rajasthan, the acceptability of most political leaders wilts outside a particular region or group. In terms of popularity among women, she is head and shoulders above her contemporaries, including the Congress.

Daughter of founding BJP leader Vijayraje Scindia and sister of the late Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia, Vasundhara Raje started her political career in 1984 as a member of the BJP national executive, Vice-President of its youth wing and got elected as an MLA from Dholpur.

Her rise was steady and in 2003, she became the state’s first woman Chief Minister when the party rode to power. A three-time MLA and five-time MP, she was a minister in the Union government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

She also led the party to victory in 2013, becoming Chief Minister for a second time. But critics have blamed her lack of accessibility, outspoken nature and “dominating” stance for the BJP defeats in 2013 and 2018.

Rajasthan goes to polls on November 25. The votes will be counted on December 3 along with that of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram.