Pilot show cold comfort for BJP brass as it eyes Rajasthan edge in direct fight with Congress

In the BJP’s assessment, the presence of more players in the Rajasthan fray could make the party’s task harder in its bid to oust the Gehlot-led Congress dispensation from power.

With the BJP top brass – including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party national president J P Nadda and party general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh – holding marathon discussions since Monday over possible changes in the organisation across the states, senior Rajasthan party leader and ex-CM Vasundhara Raje was called in for her views on Wednesday. The meeting on Rajasthan, which was also attended by party general secretary in charge of the state Arun Singh, discussed possible changes in the state organisation, sources said.

The BJP continues to grapple with the dilemma over the face of its Rajasthan leadership for the polls due in December, with Raje pressing hard for gaining control of the electioneering process while a section of state leaders insist that fighting the polls with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face would be better for the party’s prospects.

However, according to BJP sources, the party’s debacle in Karnataka has restrained the leadership from antagonising any state party heavyweight now, who has a mass base.

Although the BJP has been looking to build its Rajasthan poll campaign on issues like alleged failures of the Gehlot government on various fronts, including law and order as well as implementation of central schemes, along with the Congress’s deepening internal crisis, Pilot’s possible bid to launch his splinter outfit would not be good news for the former, sources said.

“A direct fight with the Congress is always good for the BJP. Rajasthan election seems to be heading for a multi-cornered fight at least in some areas, with smaller parties entering the fray. When there are a number of players, the anti-government votes also get divided,” said a senior BJP leader.

While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is looking to field candidates in most of the state’s 200 seats, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) would also take a plunge in the polls.

“This forces the party to devise strategies area-wise because these smaller parties can not only split the anti-government votes but also steal from our kitty,” said a BJP leader. To illustrate his point, he said with Pilot being the Congress president and a prospective CM candidate in the 2018 Assembly elections, his community Gujjars, which is considered to be a BJP support base, voted for the Congress along with Meenas, traditional Congress supporters, in east Rajasthan. “This resulted in Congress winning 25 of the 26 seats from the region. Similarly, BJP had lost a significant share of votes in the desert region also due to some other issues,” he said.

Some BJP leaders pointed out that in the event of Pilot breaking away from the Congress and forming a new party, the BJP may not be able to regain its support base in these regions. “But if Pilot remains in the Congress, the BJP would be able to get back its vote banks significantly for its candidates,” they said.

Meanwhile, Raje’s presence in the meeting at the BJP national headquarters has revived the buzz about the party mulling to have a face for its Rajasthan campaign. The party’s humiliating experience in Karnataka, where its disgruntled old guard appeared to have contributed to the debacle, has made the leadership review its strategy of handing over the baton to younger leaders. During the high-level meeting, Raje’s views were taken for the proposed new appointments in Rajasthan as well as for firming up the strategies ahead of the elections, sources said.

However, a section of the party leaders argue that going with a single face would not be advantageous for the BJP. “Going with PM Modi’s face would be good for the party. Since there are too many aspirants for the top posts, everyone will work hard to see that the party wins the election as there would be then scope for each of them,” said a BJP leader.

Raje, who had called the shots in the state BJP for a long time, has been sidelined after the Modi-Shah duo took charge of the BJP at the national level. Raje has often complained that the party’s current state leadership has not kept her in the loop over key decisions. But some recent developments – such as senior leader Gulab Chand Kataria’s appointment as Assam Governor and replacement of state party president Satish Poonia with C P Joshi — seemed to have helped Raje to stage a comeback in state politics. On Wednesday, leaders close to Raje expressed confidence that the party leadership cannot ignore Raje amidst the new political situation.