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Bhabra's letter evokes strong protests

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, AUG. 3. A war of wits is on in the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan following a letter from the former Deputy Chief Minister, Harishankar Bhabra, to the party president, Venkaiah Naidu, seeking collective leadership in the State. The letter, supposedly written in the spirit of the just- concluded "chintan baithak'' of the BJP in Goa, has provoked an instant reaction from partymen close to the Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje.

Unprovoked outburst is nothing unusual for Mr.Bhabra, who had failed to win the Assembly election this time but is presently the vice- president of the Economic Reforms Council in the State. During the run up to the Assembly polls in the State last year, it was Mr.Bhabra who had opposed the party leadership's decision to project Ms.Raje as the prospective Chief Minister here.

In his letter to Mr.Naidu copies of which were sent to former Deputy Prime Minister, L.K.Advani, and the Rajasthan BJP president, Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi, Mr.Bhabra hinted at the neglect of senior partymen. From bloc level to the national level there should be a fine mix of old and young party workers. There should be a serious effort to develop a collective responsibility as an alternative to the present personality-based leadership pattern, he had suggested.

However, ignoring Mr.Bhabra's track record as well as his plea that he was talking about collective leadership in the national perspective in the light of the Goa brainstorming session, the vice president of the Rajasthan BJP, Chandraraj Singhvi, shot off a letter to the party president, Mr.Naidu citing Rajasthan as the best example of collective leadership. The letter from Mr.Singhvi, the copies of which were sent to Ms.Raje, Mr.Chaturvedi and the party general secretary in charge of Rajasthan, Sanjay Joshi, said Rajasthan was one State among all the BJP- ruled States where collective leadership was at its best. "The so- called dissatisfied persons also have been given full recognition,'' he stated. His letter cited the appointments and transfers of officials as collective decisions. Mr.Singhvi did not miss to point out that the party workers in the districts were happy about the transfers and postings of the officials. Not seemingly willing to cross swords openly, Mr.Bhabra has clarified that he did not write anything in the context of Rajasthan and everything was referred to in the perspective of the Goa convention.

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