Vasundhara Raje takes backseat for the moment

Jaipur: Desert state’s first woman chief minister and one of its tallest leaders, Vasundhara Raje, has to take the backseat for the moment.

Akin to almost a theatrical, political thriller that preceded the entire episode of naming the chief minister designate of Rajasthan today at the BJP office here, a forlorn and almost teary-eyed Raje first looked down at the bit of paper given to her, then recovered and smiled before reading out the name of Bhajanlal Sharma as the chosen one for the top post.

With the new, young person in charge now, two-time chief minister Raje, who helmed the state for 10 years and earned BJP its biggest victory till date winning 163 seats out of 200 in 2013, may just be phased out from the state politics. Raje, who is touching 70, would find it hard to fit in with BJP’s central leadership’s scheme of bringing fresh blood into state leadership and grooming the next generation of leaders.

Her uneasy relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah since the days of his chief ministership in Gujarat, has clearly remained on their minds as they went about sidelining Raje before the 2023 Assembly elections. She was neither named the CM candidate nor named in any of the election-specific committees. She was not asked to helm the Parivartan Sankalp Yatras across the state. Neither was she visible on any of the election posters initially.

Keeping aside her ego, the maharani, however, did not lose heart and joined the campaign later and held over 54 rallies touching about 50 constituencies, from where at least 35 of her loyalists won, strengthening her claim for the top post. But as BJP accrued a comfortable majority winning 115 in a House of 200, there remained no need to fall back on Raje for support.

Realising the pitfalls, Raje began her efforts to come into focus. Raje, in fact, could sense her gradual eclipsing in the party since its defeat in 2018. Although Raje did not make any remarks in public about her inklings for the CM post, she did it in her own way. She showcased her influence in the party as at least 47 MLAs, who are her known loyalists, went to her residence and worded it as “courtesy call.” And as alleged rumours of her son Dushyant Singh, MP from Baran-Jhalawar, confining some MLAs surfaced, the top brass frowned. Her last ditch effort to earn brownie points was when she rushed to Delhi with her son, perhaps to secure his future, also did not bear fruit.

Raje, who didn’t dither from initiating bold reforms during her tenure, is not known to take orders from the top. A grassroots leader with a strong mass connect and added bonus of royal lineage, was handpicked by L K Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee to lead this feudalistic state. Her open rebellion in 2009 with about 60 MLAs in Delhi after the party’s debacle to install her as leader of Opposition, also remained upper-most in the minds of the top leaders, when considering the names of CM probables.

BJP’s strategy, it seems, is to retire the regional satraps and curb their power in their respective states. With a proud lineage and a streak of arrogance, Raje has not indicated that she is willing to become a marg-darshak yet and opt for retirement. She had earlier refused the offer to go to Delhi.

She definitely wants Dushyant to be put forward, which is one thing that might make her rethink the role that might be offered to her.

Knowing her doggedness, Raje is not a spent force yet. She might just spring a surprise.