The controversy about Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s role is far from over. His supporters are all set to use his 80th birthday tomorrow to galvanise people in Rajasthan against the Congress charge against him, dubbing it as Rajasthan ka Apmaan. The Congress had accused the Vice-President of playing politics in Rajasthan while holding a constitutional position.Shekhawat left for Jaipur this afternoon where he will celebrate his birthday and thousands are expected to greet him there. Hoardings, sources said, are already up in Jaipur to felicitate him. ‘‘My family is there and I wanted to be with them. I will stay on for Diwali,’’ he told The Indian Express. He did not know anything about what the BJP and others are planning for tomorrow, he said.‘‘It is his 80th birthday tomorrow and many more people are expected to come and greet him from all over Rajasthan than in the previous years,’’ his supporters explained. ‘‘You must remember they cannot do without him and he without them. They have got used to each other. After all, he has been in the public life of Rajasthan for 50 years.’’Shekhawat could become the focal point of the BJP with the restoration of his honour becoming the underlying theme of his birthday celebrations tomorrow, in the runup to elections. The upshot of the celebrations could be that without an overt projection of the Rajasthan leader, who quit the BJP officially when he took over as Vice-President, the BJP could close ranks around his name. He still has an appeal in Rajasthan, having been three times Chief Minister.Shekhawat is expected to attend three public functions in Jaipur tomorrow, say sources. One is a function for blood donation at the SMS Hospital, something he encouraged when he was the chief minister. The quantity of blood donated is expected to equal his weight. The second function will be held at the Mahavir Cancer Insititute. Then he will go to the Jaipur Press Club and have tea with journalists. ‘‘Every year he makes it a point to go to three temples in Jaipur and he will do the same tomorrow,’’said those associated with him.This is not the first time that the Congress has attacked him. It had given him a five page ‘‘chargesheet’’ for what the party considered a ‘‘partisan’’ ruling on the Congress-George Fernandes spat in the Rajya Sabha. He had triggered off a controversy by calling NDA Ministers to his residence to discuss drought relief in Rajasthan. But then the Shekhawat supporters are quick to point out: ‘‘You don’t expect Shekhawat to take sanyas.’’
