After Rajasthan Bypoll Loss, BJP Leader Writes to Amit Shah Demanding Vasundhara Raje's Ouster

New Delhi: Setting the alarm bells ringing for Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, whose government will face the electorate later this year, the Kota district unit of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is now divided over her leadership ability.

While BJP’s OBC wing’s president in Kota district has written a letter to BJP President Amit Shah, demanding a change in leadership in the state, the district president of the party has issued a statement in support of the CM.

“On February 1, the results for the Rajasthan bypolls came and they disappointed the hardworking workers of the BJP. Some workers, such as me, knew that the result would not go in the party’s favour. The people of the state are not happy with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s way of working and the morale of party workers is going down,” Ashok Chuadhary, OBC wing’s president said in his letter.

He also hit out at BJP state president Ashok Parnami, alleging that he works like a “slave” of the CM. “State BJP President Ashok Parnami, working like a slave of the CM, is doing immeasurable damage to the party organisation in the state. His hold on the organisation is also weakening. Party workers and office bearers are not happy with his style of working,” Chaudhary added.

He further alleged that Vasundhara Raje is “surrounded in a bureaucratic chakravyuh (trap) and is leading the party on a path where it will only find loss.”

BJP Kota district president Hemant Vijay, on the other hand, defended the CM. “Rajasthan has seen path-breaking development work being undertaken under the leadership of Vasundhara Raje Ji. Similarly, the organisation has only been strengthened under the leadership of (state BJP President) Ashok Parnamai. Ashok Chaudhary later told me that the letter he wrote was a mistake and he would like to take it back,” he said.

The Congress has clinched success at the bypolls which were dubbed “semi-final” before the Assembly elections in Rajasthan later this year. Congress candidates Raghu Sharma and Karan Singh Yadav won the Lok Sabha by-elections from Ajmer and Alwar respectively. The Congress also defeated the BJP in the Mandalgarh Assembly by-polls.