Faction fued hots up in Rajasthan BJP

With the Rajasthan assembly elections only about one and a half years away, a bitter factional struggle is brewing in the opposition BJP led by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje and the RSS backed leaders in the state for domination.

To douse the fire, the party central leadership has called up the leaders of the two factions to Delhi on Sunday. The saffron party in the state is vertically divided between one faction led by Raje and the other who were rooted in the strong RSS background opposed to the domination of Raje.

The rift in the leadership came to the fore after former state BJP president and senior leader of the party Gulab Chand Kataria announced a Lok Jagaran Yatra in the tribal dominated Udaipur region from May 2. Kataria represents the Udaipur Assembly seat and is considered as the strong man of the party in the Mewar region. However Vasundhara supporters view it as challenge to her supremacy and is opposed to the Kataria’s yatra, which they allege was announced unilaterally. They argue that Kataria could not launch such a yatra without the permission of the state and central leaderships and is accused of indulging in self aggrandizement and one upmanship.

Countering the allegation, Kataria said, “I have sent out invitation to national president Nitin Gadkari and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje requesting to join the launch of the yatra. However it is for them to decide. Whatever happens I will continue with the yatra covering all the 26 assembly constituencies in the region.”

The meetings held in Rajsamand and Banswara district of the Udaipur division to galvanise the party cadres in support of the yatra by Kataria have witnessed ugly scenes with the two factions come to blows. Raje camp follower and BJP national general secretary Kiran Maheshwari who is the MLA from Rajsamand reportedly questioned the unauthorised yatra by Kataria and the meeting ended in fiasco with Kataria supporters throwing out Kiran Maheshwari from the meeting.

It was followed by some prominent leaders toeing the line of the opponents of the yatra questioned during a meeting in Banswara about whether the state or national party leadership had given its permission to the Lok Jagaran Yatra slated to begin from May 2.