Finally,Raje quits,lists BJP problems in letter

Vasundhara Raje finally quit as Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan after a meeting with L K Advani on Friday.

Vasundhara Raje finally quit as Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan after a meeting with L K Advani today,packing her letter of resignation with criticism of a range of alleged systemic problems in the BJP.

The resignation marked the end of a nearly-three month stalemate that followed after Raje steadfastly refused to submit to a decision by her partys Core Group endorsed subsequently by its Parliamentary Board to effect a change of leadership in Rajasthan following defeats in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

In her letter,Raje is learnt to have stressed that internal democracy is fundamental to any political party,and that she was hurt when she learnt about the demand for her resignation through the media. She added that she would have quit immediately had she been informed about this in person.

Women leaders, she said,should be encouraged in the party,and lamented that there were leaders who had worked against the partys interests when she was leading the party campaign in the state.

Raje has made the point that the principle of accountability has not been applied in other cases of election debacle,and asked the party to do an honest introspection following the losses in Maharashtra,Haryana and Arunchal Pradesh,instead of the all-too-familiar tactic of looking for scapegoats.

Raje has,however,asserted that she was resigning unconditionally,and that she remained a loyal and committed worker of the party.

A member of the BJP Parliamentary Board said the former chief minister has raised a host of issues afflicting the party,and invoked her mother,the late Vijayaraje Scindia,and her seminal contribution towards building the party.

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After meeting Advani,Raje sent copies of her resignation letter to all Parliamentary Board members. She sent an aide to deliver a copy to party president Rajnath Singh.

Sources said that while not targetting individuals,Raje has sought to put the handling of the party under the leadership of Rajnath Singh under the scanner. While Raje commanded overwhelming loyalty among BJP MLAs in Rajasthan,Rajnath had made her resignation a personal issue.

On Friday,Rajnath said he had received a three-line resignation letter from Raje that was read out at the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting before it was accepted.

Raje met former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee along with her son Dushyant Singh,an MP,later in the evening.

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In Jaipur,Rajes resignation evoked a mixed response. In an indication of continuing factional fighting in the state BJP,her supporters insisted her successor should be chosen from among her supporters,while her detractors said nonchalantly that there were other more important issues to deal with in the state.

State unit president Arun Chaturvedi said,There is now another vacancy in the party unit,which will have to be eventually filled. However,there is no Rajasthan Assembly session in the near future,so we are concentrating on the byelections of November 7 and the municipal polls after that.

Chaturvedi added that the choice of Rajes successor would be made by the party central leadership.

A senior leader from the anti-Raje camp,however,said: Ms Raje was a popular leader,but now she has resigned. For all immediate purposes,there is the Deputy Leader of Opposition,Ganshyam Tiwari. Tiwari is Rajes most prominent detractor,and along with former home minister Gulab Chand Kataria,the frontrunner for her job.