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Embattled BJP rallies behind new leader

JAIPUR: An embattled Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan rallied behind the new State unit president Omprakash Mathur on Monday on the occasion of his assuming charge. Forgetting the skirmishes among the senior leaders this past week over his appointment, the party made a big song and dance about the event by bringing him in a grand procession from the airport in the morning on his arrival from Delhi and installing him as the president at a public meeting held on Sardar Patel Marg outside the State BJP office.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, BJP general secretary in charge of Rajasthan Gopinath Munde and Mr. Mathur, until now general secretary in charge of Gujarat, blamed the media for the reports on differences within the party over the appointment of the new president replacing Mahesh Sharma. “I am very happy today,” said Ms. Raje while explaining that her reported annoyance on the appointment of Mr. Mathur was a creation of the media.

“I was on a holiday that time and as such generally I don’t read the newspapers. Only on my return I learnt about the fuss being made by the media. In fact I had gone to Delhi on the New Year day to take the blessings of the party seniors,” Ms. Raje said explaining the reason for her meeting with senior party leader L. K. Advani and party president Rajnath Singh. Ms. Raje assured the outgoing president that the party would not discard him.

Almost all the senior party leaders from the State, including known Raje critics such as BJP vice-president Kailash Meghwal and Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi were present on the occasion in which party workers from Marwar, Mr. Mathur’s home terrain, and from Gujarat had also assembled.

As they would do in the marriage processions in merriment, someone from among the crowd in front of the stage where Ms. Raje and others were seated fired in the air from a rifle two times to exult. The person, identified as Zorawar Singh from Asupur in Dungarpur district, was taken into custody after a case was filed against him.

The main strain of the speeches made by the outgoing president, Dr. Sharma, Mr. Munde, Ms. Raje and the new incumbent was the Assembly election in the State, scheduled later in the year, and Mr. Mathur’s track record of winning elections in the States such as Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Gujarat where he had been in charge. The speakers also emphasised that the next elections would be fought under the leadership of Ms. Raje who would—Mr. Munde and Mr. Mathur said -- be the next Chief Minister as well.

Mr. Mathur, the last one to address, said there was very little time left for gearing up for the next Assembly elections. “Forget everything else. Stop making demands from the Government and come to the streets to win the election. Make sure that every polling both has a BJP man manning it,” he said.

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