Raje says she's ready to quit post

Raje’s softened her stand following summons by the party’s central leadership which wanted her to meet with senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu on August 31 in Delhi.

Raje, who held a show of strength of the BJP legislators on Wednesday—attended by 70 of the 78 legislators—said in Jaipur on Friday that she was a disciplined soldier of the party and would like to “sort out this problem by talking to its leadership whose orders were supreme” to her.

“I am a disciplined soldier of the party and its order is supreme to me. I am committed to serving the party with or without a post,” she said in a statement here.
Earlier, the BJP high command summoned Raje to Delhi on August 31 for a meeting with Naidu to defuse the crisis in Rajasthan. Raje was scheduled to meet Naidu on Monday to discuss the future course of action. The party high command had given her time till August 30 to put in her papers when the short session of the state Assembly ends.

Naidu was appointed pointsman to defuse the crisis in the Rajasthan BJP unit.
Holding Raje responsible for the party’s poor performance in the state Assembly Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had earlier this month asked her to step down as the Opposition leader.

Raje had put forth three conditions—choice to choose her successor as the Opposition leader, revocation of the suspension order against two party colleagues and a post for herself in Delhi—before acceding to the party decision.

Emphasising that she was ready for talks any time, Raje said: “When there is a problem of any sort within a family, it is only natural that you sit down and talk it out. That is how we would be able to sort it (crisis) out,” she said. “Today I would like to say that I am, and would be, very keen to go (for talks) as quickly as possible to sort out these problems.”

The former chief minister also claimed she enjoyed “very cordial and family ties” with the RSS since her mother Vijay Raje Scindia’s time. “Any order by the party will be supreme for me,” she said. To convey her reluctance to opt out as the Opposition leader, Raje had brought to Delhi last week 57 party MLAs. She met BJP president Rajnath Singh but the MLAs were refused a meeting with L K Advani.