New Delhi: The BJP is vigorously preparing for upcoming Assembly elections in Rajasthan, but the infighting in its state unit continues to haunt the party as several veteran leaders are looking upset with the top leadership assigning a crucial poll campaign responsibility to party’s former state president Satish Poonia.
Poonia’s work style, when he was Rajasthan BJP chief, drew severe criticism from some veteran leaders within the party.
The BJP, which is going to take out four ‘Parivartan Yatras’ from four major religious places in the state in view of the Assembly polls, has assigned Poonia to lead one of the Yatras. This has irked some of the party leaders — from Rajasthan to Delhi.
Scheduled to start on September 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively, the yatras will culminate in a mega public address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 25 in Jaipur.
The fourth yatra will be flagged off by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari from Gogamedi in Hanumangarh on September 5. The party high command has entrusted the responsibility of leading this yatra to its former state president Poonia.
Those who are not happy with Poonia, include a few veteran party leaders in Rajasthan, some present and former Union ministers, and even a Rajasthan BJP veteran sitting on a constitutional post.
It is being said that in the Rajasthan BJP, which is divided into several factions, the leaders of all the factions are angry with him.
Poonia, while being the state president of the party, had opened a front against former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
In March, the party high command removed Poonia from the post of state president and appointed Lok Sabha MP C.P. Joshi the new chief of the Rajasthan BJP after repeated complaints by senior leaders. However, the party’s top leadership later made Poonia the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly.
The first Parivartan Yatra will be flagged off by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on September 2 from the Trinetra Ganesh Temple in Sawai Madhopur. The responsibility to lead the first yatra has been given to Raje. Similarly, the second yatra will be flagged off by party’s national president J.P. Nadda from Beneshwar Dham in Dungarpur on September 3 and it will be led by state BJP chief Joshi. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will flag off the third yatra from Ramdevra in Jaisalmer on September 4. This will led by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
–IANS
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