Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday sent a strong message to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Central leadership that she would very much be a contender for the top position in the state when the Assembly elections are held later this year. At an obvious show of strength to project her acceptability and popularity, Vasundhara’s supporters held her birthday celebrations at the Salasar temple at Churu. There were at least 53 sitting MLAs, 14 MPs and nearly 118 former legislators who were present to show solidarity with her on the occasion. Although Vasundhara’s birthday falls on March 8th along with the International Women’s day and the Holi festival, the gathering at Churu was to demonstrate that it shall be not easy for the Central leadership to ignore her claim since she continued to be perhaps the most sought-after leader in the State. There has been speculation in political circles that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top leaders in the party could opt for an alternative this time in order to present a new look BJP. The names of people who could likely be considered for the top post other than Vasundhara, include Union Minister, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Diya Kumari, Lok Sabha MP who is from the erstwhile Jaipur Royal family. The BJP is confident that it would be able to dislodge the Ashok Gehlot government when the polls take place and the infighting within the Congress was certainly going to assist in this task. Even Vasundhara while commenting on the tussle between Gehlot and Sachin Pilot stated that she was not aware as to who had beaten whom but both had certainly let down the people of Rajasthan. In the past, there have been conjectures on Vasundhara sharing a good personal equation with Gehlot. However, this does not imply that she would allow the Congress to get the better of BJP, if she is asked to lead the campaign. The dilemma that is very real is that Vasundhara’s nephew Jyotiraditya Scindia has been propped by the party for bigger things. Many in the party believe that since Madhya Pradesh elections were also scheduled to be held along with Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, the BJP could project Scindia as its face in MP instead of that of the trusted and tried Shivraj Singh Chauhan. Hypothetically speaking if a decision is taken to field Jyotiraditya as the MP face, it would be very difficult to imagine that Vasundhara could be the selected one from Rajasthan. The BJP has often expressed its disliking for encouraging dynastic politics and therefore to have two from the same family even though they were estranged, for two top positions in different states, seems most unlikely. The big task for the Central leadership would be also to ensure that Vasundhara remains in good spirits so that the dissident activity within the party does not gain momentum ahead of the polls. Jyotiraditya had quit the Congress after he had serious differences with senior leader Kamal Nath, who did not allow him in any manner to stake his claim or increase his area of influence. This resulted in a revolt and many of Scindia’s supporters left the Congress to shift to the BJP leading to the collapse of the Kamal Nath government. The Congress has since consolidated its position and at the same time, the BJP is also gearing itself for the political confrontation. The fall out of Madhya Pradesh politics and the changing equations there could impact Vasundhara, who, however, is in no mood to give up. Therefore, the BJP shall ultimately have to choose between Jyotiraditya and his aunt in a few months.
