Assembly polls in Rajasthan to be held under Vasundhara Raje

The BJP state president Ashok Parnami on Tuesday said the state Assemby elections, scheduled for later this year, would be held under the leadership of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

Owing to the recent loss in bypolls, which gave wings to rumours suggesting the change of guard in the BJP in Rajasthan, Parnami said, "The defeat in the bypolls is treated as a wake up call for the BJP."

When asked if the party has asked him to resign, Parnami told reporters outside the Assembly, "This is false information. No one has asked me to resign".  

Referring to the Dholpur Assembly election last year, where the party had won by a huge margin last year, Parnami said, "Victory and defeat are a part and parcel  of elections. Assembly polls are still far and BJP will do its best to regain the faith of people".

Two days ago, Raje also directed party MLAs to popularise the development work done by the ruling party among the masses.

At a BJP legislative meeting in Jaipur, Raje said there was no need to lose hope over the by-election result.

In a major setback to the BJP, the Congress swept bypolls in Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha seats and Mandalgarh Assembly seat.

The desert state is likely to go to polls in November for 200 seats.