Why Gehlot dared BJP to project Vasundhara Raje as CM face

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has challenged the BJP to project Vasundhara Raje as its chief ministerial face rather than rely on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to see the party through in the upcoming assembly election. The comment on August 4 is significant as the BJP is yet to project any leader from its faction-ridden Rajasthan unit to be in the forefront. Raje, a two-term chief minister, finds herself nearly sidelined in the state BJP despite consistently demonstrating her following with mass gatherings that often beat state BJP-organised rallies in numbers. By naming her, has Gehlot tried to widen the fault lines in the Opposition party?

The BJP has time and again indicated that Modi would be its prime mascot for the Rajasthan election. This suits a few party leaders who were hoping to be made chief minister and favour a ‘collective leadership’ leading the BJP to the Rajasthan polls, due by the year-end. However, this has caused confusion among the BJP cadre as well as several prominent leaders who do not consider themselves to be in the CM race.

A string of rallies by PM Modi and top national leaders of the BJP are being planned in Rajasthan in the weeks to come, leaving state unit leaders wondering if it was an assembly election or a parliamentary poll. No leader in the state BJP is seen to have access to the top brass to be able to give feedback. Local leaders now complain that their time and resources—meant to build their base in the respective assembly constituencies—are being spent on organising these rallies. There is also uncertainty among them about getting election tickets.

The way PM Modi raised local issues at his last two rallies in Rajasthan (Bikaner and Sikar), it would almost appear that he is leading the campaign the way a declared CM face or top state BJP leader would do. “Modi will not be the chief minister of Rajasthan. He is the prime minister,” reminded Gehlot, clarifying that he did not wish to equate himself with Modi. “Modi is vishwa guru whereas I am a sewak of the people of Rajasthan. For the Congress, the only PM face is Rahul Gandhi whose Bharat Jodo Yatra has driven fear into the BJP, which is why they tried to silence him.”

Needling the BJP, Gehlot questioned the stature of leaders whose names were being propped up and pointed out how one of them had tried to bring down the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government in 1996-97. Gehlot’s reference to Shekhawat was crucial because he had told Congress MLAs of the time not to support the rebels. ”In precisely the same way, Vasundhara Raje had decided not to support the rebellion [in 2020] against me,” Gehlot said.

The Rajasthan CM asserted that he had succeeded in saving the Congress government against the BJP’s machinations in 2020 primarily because his MLAs had stood by him, and also because some BJP leaders with high moral standing like Raje had refused to support any move to topple him.

While the anti-Raje camp in the state BJP considers Gehlot’s words of praise for Raje as bonhomie between the two leaders, Union home minister Amit Shah had, in December 2021, categorically stated that his party preferred to defeat Gehlot comprehensively in elections rather than pull down his government, so as to keep winning polls in Rajasthan thereafter.

“Vasundhara Raje is the real face of the BJP [in Rajasthan],” Gehlot said, perhaps indicating that the BJP was waiting for the right time to bring her to the forefront. While Gehlot and Raje are seen to have cordial relations, the two have been such bitter rivals in the past that they would get offended even by references of one another. Even now, they rarely communicate but at least have a functional equation. However, Gehlot will not refrain from launching an all-out attack on Raje should she emerge as the BJP’s face for the Rajasthan polls.

The Congress is questioning the credentials of some CM contenders in the BJP over the wealth they have amassed after getting into politics and their criminal records. Raje appears cleaner than several of her rivals. The question is whether the BJP plans to bet on her for the Rajasthan campaign or pitch an altogether new face from among the hopefuls.

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