'There would have been no Hindustan without RSS'

Minutes after taking the charge as the BJP chief in Rajasthan, Satish Punia, who has a strong RSS background, said that if there was no RSS, there would have been no Hindustan.

Satish Punia, who was appointed chief of Rajasthan BJP, told media at the BJP headquarters in Jaipur, "The Bhagwa saffron is respected everywhere and RSS is undoubtedly a big force".

Punia, who is considered close to the RSS, had won the 2018 Assembly elections from Amer constituency (Jaipur rural). He was appointed the party chief on Sunday, weeks after the death of former state party chief Madan Lal Saini.

The 55-year-old MLA also hit out at the ruling Congress in the state. "The Congress government has betrayed the trust of the people. And the law and order situation has deteriorated under the Ashok Gehlot government," he said. He also said that his party will play the role of effective role as Opposition and will try to make Rajasthan free from the Congress.

Punia, a Jat leader, was currently BJP spokesperson in Rajasthan and was also looking after the party''s membership drive in the state. His appointment comes just before the local body elections.

"We will be taking all castes and communities along. We will make the party stronger at booth level, we will work on the ground level for the people," he said.

Poonia's elevation as Rajasthan BJP president is seen as BJP's tactic of wooing the Jat community and at the same time keeping RSS at the upper level in the party. Poonia who has been associated with Sangh since his childhood and has served as RSS'' state general secretary for four terms between 2004-14.

His appointed has brought enthusiasm to BJP workers, who gathered at party headquarters and garlanded him. BJP national vice president and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje congratulated him over phone.

Who is Punia?

Poonia was born in Rajgarh town of Churu district and began his student politics in 1982. Punia is known for his organisational skills within the party circles and has served as the state general secretary of the BJP four times. He was also the state coordinator for veteran BJP leader L K Advani''s ''Jan Chetna Yatra'' in 2011.

Interestingly the other names that were doing rounds for the post of the BJP President in Rajasthan were deputy leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore and former Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Moreover, two BJP leaders Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Arjun Ram Meghwal have already been inducted in the Modi government.