Raje meets Nadda amidst CM post imbroglio

Jaipur: Four days after the election result, there is still no clarity on the chief ministerial post in Rajasthan, even as senior leader Vasundhara Raje is in Delhi and is said to be meeting BJP president J P Nadda.

The delay in announcing the name of the chief minister has set off speculations that BJP, with a comfortable margin, may be looking for a generational change in the desert state.

Political analysts suggest that Raje may be briefed about her role and asked to present her side on the pressure tactics and resort confinement allegations that have surfaced. It is being said that her meeting with several MLAs, which almost amounted to a show of strength, was not taken too kindly by the BJP top brass.

Meanwhile, one of the probable contenders for the chief ministerial post, Mahant Balaknath, who won from Alwar’s Tijara constituency and was till now the MP from Alwar, resigned from his Lok Sabha seat today.

He is also supposed to have met Home Minister Amit Shah today in Parliament, along with Om Mathur, senior organisational leader and member of the BJP Parliamentary Board.

There are at least eight to 10 names doing the rounds as contenders for the chief ministerial post, as the BJP fought the elections this time without a CM face. These include Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Ashwini Vaishnav, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and MLAs Diya Kumari and Kirori Lal Meena.

Yesterday, MPs Diya Kumari, Rajyavardhan Rathore, and Rajya Sabha MP Kirori Lal Meena were asked to resign and start working for the state as they won their respective Assembly seats.

Sources say the BJP is likely to announce the names of central observers who will travel to the three states that the party won and meeting elected legislators. The chief minister picks are expected to be announced over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Raje, who flew to Delhi late last night, is one of the strongest contenders for the top post. After the results on December 3, in which BJP won 115 seats out of 199, a number of elected MLAs, considered to be her loyalists, came to greet Raje at her residence. Some of them, like Bahadur Singh Koli from Weir and Gopichand Meena from Jahajpur, openly spoke in favour of Raje.

Raje had stepped out of her constituency Jhalarapatan and campaigned for many BJP candidates. At least 35 candidates have won where she held rallies for them.

Allegations about the confinement of some newly elected MLAs also surfaced in Jaipur. Hemraj Meena, father of Lalit Meena, who has won from Kishanganj, alleged that Raje’s son Dushyant Singh, MP from Baran, had kept his son and four other MLAs confined in a resort, Aapno Rajasthan on Sikar Road on the outskirts of Jaipur.

Former BJP MLA Hemraj Meena alleged that he had gone to take his son Lalit Meena, 36, from the resort on Dec 5 but was stopped by another MLA from Anta, Kanwarlal Meena, who said Lalit can only be taken away after asking Dushyant. There were in total five MLAs, including his son. Kalu Lal Meghwal from Dag, Radheyshyam Bairwa from Baran, and Govind Ranipuria from Manoharthana were the other legislators.

They had come to meet Raje on Dec 5 and then they were lodged in the resort. Hemraj Meena said he informed BJP State president C P Joshi and state in charge Arun Singh about the episode. Joshi said he had indeed met Hemraj Meena but was not informed about the resort confinement.

However, Lalit Meena denied that he was confined in the resort. “BJP is my family and I am not saying anything against it,” he told Deccan Herald.

Kanwarlal Meena also has also refuted the allegations of confinement saying all the legislators from the same region had come to meet Raje and greet her. He said Dushyant Singh being an MP was in Delhi that day and he had no communication with him that day. Jaipur, Dec 7 : Four days after the election result, there is still no clarity on the chief ministerial post in Rajasthan even as senior leader Vasundhara Raje is in Delhi, and is said to be meeting BJP party president J P Nadda.

The delay in announcing the name of the chief minister has set off speculations that BJP, with a comfortable margin, may be looking for a generational change in the desert state.

Political analysts say Raje may be briefed about her role and asked to present her side on the pressure tactics and resort confinement allegations that have surfaced. It is being said that her meeting of several MLAs, which almost was a show of strength, was not taken too kindly by the BJP top brass.

Meanwhile, one of the probable contenders for the chief ministerial post, Mahant Balaknath, who won from Alwar’s Tijara constituency and was till now the MP from Alwar, resigned from his Lok Sabha seat today.

He is also supposed to have met Home Minister Amit Shah today in Parliament. And also Om Mathur, senior organisational leader and member of BJP Parliamentary Board.

There are at least eight to 10 names doing the rounds as contenders for the chief ministerial post as BJP fought the elections this time without a CM face. These include Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Ashwini Vaishnav, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, MLAs Diya Kumari and Kirori Lal Meena.

Yesterday MPs Diya Kumari, Rajyavardhan Rathore and Rajya Sabha MP Kirori Lal Meena were asked to resign and start working for the state as they won their respective Assembly seats.

Sources say BJP is likely to announce the names of central observers who would be travelling to the three states and would be meeting elected legislators. And probably the name of the chief minister would be announced over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Raje who flew to Delhi late night yesterday, is one of the strongest contenders for the top post. After the results on Dec 3, in which BJP won 115 seats out of 199, a number of elected MLAs, considered to be her loyalists numbering about 47 came to greet Raje at her residence. Some of them like Bahadur Singh Koli from Weir and Gopichand Meena from Jahajpur openly spoke in favour of Raje.

Raje had stepped out of her constituency Jhalarapatan and campaigned for many of her candidates. At least 35 candidates have won where she held rallies for them.

Allegations about the confinement of some newly elected MLAs also surfaced in Jaipur. Hemraj Meena, father of Lalit Meena, who has won from Kishanganj, alleged that Raje’s son Dushyant Singh, MP from Baran had kept his son and four other MLAs confined in a resort, Aapno Rajasthan on Sikar Road on the outskirts of Jaipur.

Former BJP MLA Hemraj Meena alleged that he had gone to take his Lalit Meena, 36, from the resort on Dec 5 but was stopped by another MLA from Anta, Kanwarlal Meena who said Lalit can only be taken away after asking Dushyant. There were in total five MLAs including his son. Kalu Lal Meghwal from Dag, Radheyshyam Bairwa from Baran and Govind Ranipuria from Manoharthana were the other legislators.

They had come to meet Raje on Dec 5, and then they were lodged in the resort. Hemraj Meena said he informed BJP State president C P Joshi and state in charge Arun Singh about the episode. Joshi said he had indeed met Hemraj Meena but was not informed about the resort confinement.

However, Lalit Meena denied that he was confined in the resort. “BJP is my family, and I am not saying anything against it,” he told Deccan Herald.

Kanwarlal Meena also has refuted the allegations of confinement, saying all the legislators from the same region had come to meet Raje and greet her. He said Dushyant Singh, being an MP, was in Delhi that day, and he had no communication with him that day.