National leaders fronting its pre-poll yatra, BJP tries to sidestep Rajasthan cracks

This might also be a precursor to what might happen if the BJP comes to power this December: that the party’s central leadership will decide the next CM, who may not necessarily be the most popular or most favourable choice of the electorate or party workers.

Most of the BJP’s top leaders in the state fancy their chances at becoming CM, starting with former CM Vasundhara Raje and including Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Arjun Ram Meghwal, former state president Satish Poonia, Leader of the Opposition Rajendra Rathore, and even Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena and party president Joshi.

The jostling within the state unit, especially when Poonia was at the helm, has barely been hidden from public view. While Poonia’s appointment was seen as the central leadership’s way of checking Raje’s dominance, it appears to have been read as a message that the top position was up for grabs.

This aligned with the general view that the central BJP was uneasy about Raje, a two-term CM who commands a following in her own right and continues to be regarded as the party’s tallest leader in the state by far, irrespective of her standing with Delhi.

Now, by picking national leaders to launch the pre-poll yatra, the BJP hopes to project a picture of unity, and keep aspirations in the state in check.

The party’s organisational leaders earlier declared that the elections will be fought on ‘Modi’ and ‘Kamal’ – indicating that the Prime Minister will be the face of the campaign, though Raje supporters continue to believe this might change closer to elections.

Raje was missing from both the BJP’s recently declared manifesto and poll management committees, with the explanation being floated that the panels didn’t suit her “stature”. However, a similar reasoning pales when it comes to the Parivartan Yatras.

Besides, the central leadership has sent a clear message that the state reins are firmly in its hands, ensured that all sides remain hopeful till at least the end of the elections, and underlined that it has no favourites, at least not yet.

Then there is the caste factor. By not projecting any leader, the BJP has dodged the bullet of antagonising any caste group, even as the launches are happening from religious hotspots: the Trinetra Ganesh Temple in Sawai Madhopur, Beneshwar Dham in Dungarpur, Ramdevra Temple Jaisalmer and Gogamedi in Hanumangarh.

Former BJP MP Narayan Panchariya, the head of the 21-member election management committee of the party, said the yatras would cover their routes in about 20 days.

Party sources said that to mark the conclusion of the Parivartan Yara, PM Modi will address a big rally on the outskirts of Jaipur, in the last week of September.

However, not all BJP leaders believe the party has put the factionalism issue behind. Said one leader: “State leaders will join the Yatra and address rallies, as asked of them. This may lead to them jostling with each other to bring more crowds to their rallies.”

Days to go for the Parivartan Yatra, re-alignments by leaders are happening in public. On Monday, party veteran and MLA Kailash Meghwal attacked Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal as ‘Corrupt No. 1’. The same day, BJP MP Diya Kumari tied a rakhi on Poonia in Jaipur, while heaping praises on him, saying: “When he took charge of Rajasthan, it wasn’t easy. We all know this. And he has brought the party till here, where the BJP is winning by a big margin.”