New Delhi, August 22
The BJP apeared to have broken a major impasse with Rajasthan Legislative Assembly leader of the party and former state Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje holding an hour-long meeting with party president Rajnath Singh, first time since he announced the decision of the parliamentary board that she has to quit her post.
A grim and stiff looking Vasundhara drove into Rajnath’s 34, Ashoka Road residence this evening at 7.35 pm, more than half an hour late for the meeting, scheduled for 7 pm and left the place exactly at 8.35 pm, smiling and looking visibly pleased, leading to spculations in political circles that she had managed to buy some more time from the party high command before she puts in her papers.
Her meeting with the party president was preceded by a nearly two-hour long sojourn at pary leader LK Advani’s Prithviraj Road residence, during which period Advani seemed to have brokered peace between Vasundhara and Rajnath.
No party leader has been willing to pronouce the terms of the deal, but sources insisted that “the president has already announced that she has to go. But no time limit has been prescribed.”
Whatever be the conditions under which Vasundhara agreed to smoke the peace pipe with Rajnath, the BJP leaders appeared relaxed after the meeting. Rajnath’s confidants normally there to do any damage control management left within a few minutes of Vasundhara’s arrival, clearly indicating that
there was nothing much to apprehend anymore.
With this a week-long crisis in the party seemed to have blown over since Vasundhara Raje, who claimed support of overwhelimng majority of her party MLAs in the state assembly was resisting the party’s directive to put in her papers and move back to Delhi.
Last week, days before the BJP Chintan Baithak, she had despatched over 50 party MLAs to press for her continuation in office. These MLAs stormed into Rajnath;’s house and sat on a dharna outside Advani’s house.
Immediatley, Rajnath moved the BJP Parliamentary board met, which agreed with Rajnath that she has to go, but allowed her the choice of timing her resignation.
She has already been offered the general secretraryship of the BJP here under Rajnath. But sources said she has also been demanding that her successor be a person of her choice. She has not been happy with the BJP’s choice of names for her post.
She has also been unhappy with the party’s threat of disciplinary action against some of her loyal MLAs, who had openly defied the party high command and is now seeking revocation of action against these MLAs. But, the BJP leaders refused to spell out the terms under which a reluctant Vasundhara agreed to go and meet Rajnath Singh.
