NEW DELHI: Vasundhara Raje, the former chief minister of Rajasthan and one of the most popular faces of the BJP in the state, has lost out on the race to the top job this time. The BJP on Tuesday picked Bhajan Lal Sharma as the chief minister of Rajasthan, putting an end to all speculations doing the rounds.
The BJP won 115 out of the 119 seats that went to the polls last month.The Congress was a distant second with 69 seats. The difference in vote share between the two parties was around 2% with the BJP getting 41.7% of the votes compared to Congress’s 39.5%.
Vasundhara Raje, who has been the chief minister of the state for two terms, from 2003 to 2008 and then again from 2013 to 2018, was the frontrunner for the top post. However, the BJP leadership this time around did not project any chief ministerial candidates amid reports that the party wanted a new line of leadership in the state. The party also made several MPs contest the state elections sending out a loud and clear message to Raje even before the elections.
Right from the time the results were out, MLAs loyal to Raje have been visiting her residence in a show of strength. Raje’s son Dushyant Singh was involved in a controversy when father of a newly elected MLA alleged that four other party MLAs had held his son captive in a resort. The MLA’s father alleged that this was done on the instructions of Dushyant. Dushyant has been accused of lobbying with MLAs for his mother. Raje, alongwith Dushyant, later met BJP chief JP Nadda to put forth her views on the incidents.
Meanwhile, Raje also made all the right noises to ensure she was on the right side of the party high command. She credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP’s victory in all the three states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Sharing a video of a felicitation programme for PM Modi organised by the MPs in the Parliament on ‘X’, the former Rajasthan Chief Minister wrote: “The massive victories in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisharh hint that Congress’ false promises and claims did not work in front of PM Modi’s guarantees. PM Modi was given a warm welcome by the MPs at the BJP parliamentary party meeting today.”
The BJP won 115 out of the 119 seats that went to the polls last month.The Congress was a distant second with 69 seats. The difference in vote share between the two parties was around 2% with the BJP getting 41.7% of the votes compared to Congress’s 39.5%.
Vasundhara Raje, who has been the chief minister of the state for two terms, from 2003 to 2008 and then again from 2013 to 2018, was the frontrunner for the top post. However, the BJP leadership this time around did not project any chief ministerial candidates amid reports that the party wanted a new line of leadership in the state. The party also made several MPs contest the state elections sending out a loud and clear message to Raje even before the elections.
Right from the time the results were out, MLAs loyal to Raje have been visiting her residence in a show of strength. Raje’s son Dushyant Singh was involved in a controversy when father of a newly elected MLA alleged that four other party MLAs had held his son captive in a resort. The MLA’s father alleged that this was done on the instructions of Dushyant. Dushyant has been accused of lobbying with MLAs for his mother. Raje, alongwith Dushyant, later met BJP chief JP Nadda to put forth her views on the incidents.
Meanwhile, Raje also made all the right noises to ensure she was on the right side of the party high command. She credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP’s victory in all the three states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Sharing a video of a felicitation programme for PM Modi organised by the MPs in the Parliament on ‘X’, the former Rajasthan Chief Minister wrote: “The massive victories in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisharh hint that Congress’ false promises and claims did not work in front of PM Modi’s guarantees. PM Modi was given a warm welcome by the MPs at the BJP parliamentary party meeting today.”