Party remains at odds with Raje

In the backdrop of much publicised development agenda of state government, there seems to be a strong tussle going on between Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and the Bharatiya Janata Party national leadership, including Prime Minister Modi.

The relationship reportedly started turning sour, immediately after Modi refused to induct Raje’s son Dushyant Singh into his cabinet.

Since then there have been several ups and downs and the recent statement made by Raje that one man cannot win elections, has further fueled the rumours of differences in political circles.

Raje categorically said that if anyone thinks winning Assembly and Parliamentary polls in state has been possible because of one person, they must think again.

The statement was interpreted as direct remark on Modi following which Raje and state leadership immediately started damage control exercise and claimed that CM was misinterpreted.

The statement has come at a time when entire party is riding high on Modi factor in the poll bound states.

Election canvassing in Maharashtra was another occasion where senior leader Ghanshyam Tiwari – arch rival of Raje – was given special importance by national leadership.

After sidelining Tiwari completely, local leadership even dropped him from the list of star campaigners from Rajasthan, who were supposed to address election rallies in Maharashtra.

Going against local leadership, specially Raje, incharge for the Maharashtra Assembly elections Om Mathur called Tiwari to hold election rallies in Maharashtra.

Mathur is a trusted aide of Modi and had some bitter experiences with Raje in her previous tenure.

Through this move not only Om Mathur made his presence felt, but also gave a clear message that top leadership values senior leaders like Tiwari.

The incident has become a hot topic of discussion in internal party circle where leaders are of the view that such incidents may lead to create more power centres in Rajasthan in long run.

These power centres may be the leaders who have been close to top leadership and also those who have the advantage of working with Modi at one point in time.