New Delhi: Chittorgarh MP CP Joshi, who replaced Satish Poonia as Rajasthan BJP chief on March 23, is trying to avoid the mistakes of his predecessor – alienating senior leader and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia, and positioning himself as an alternative. Creating power centers A state unit plagued by factionalism and infighting.
“I am an ordinary party worker and there are other leaders senior to me in the BJP. My duty is to bring all the leaders on one platform to fight against (Chief Minister) Ashok Gehlot. I will have to take guidance from him to run the party, and I will ensure that everyone walks unitedly.
According to several BJP leaders, the motive behind changing state chiefs in an election year was to bring unity in the party unit.
Joshi emphasized the same message in his first address to BJP workers in Jaipur on 27 March. He told party workers, “I am an ordinary party worker and I have been given a responsibility, but I need your support to fulfill that responsibility and bring BJP to power.”
He further asked them not to raise slogans in his name, nor to stick their own banners and posters. “If you want to see me alive, don’t raise slogans in my name after today. Raise slogans of Bharat Mata and PM Narendra Modi, and put up hoardings of the PM and the central government’s work,” he urged the workers.
Amidst the tussle with Raje, Joshi went to his residence in Jaipur this Sunday “to seek his guidance”, and also met other senior state BJP leaders such as Arun Chaturvedi, Ashok Parnami and Raje loyalist Harishankar Bhabhada.
Elaborating on the challenge before him, Joshi told ThePrint, “In BJP, the individual does not work, but the organization does.”
With the guidance of senior colleagues having tremendous political experience and the cooperation of lakhs of BJP workers, we will achieve the goal of forming a BJP government in Rajasthan.
BJP leaders ThePrint spoke to emphasized that Joshi was seen as a “neutral face” in the party, unlike Poonia, and was “acceptable to all party factions in Rajasthan, and especially to Raje “.
BJP also demonstrated on Sunday to pacify the former Chief Minister Appointed Raje loyalist and Churu MLA Rajendra Rathore as Leader of the Opposition. Meanwhile, Poonia was made his deputy.
A BJP leader told ThePrint, “The party high command has asked the newly elected leaders to personally meet Raje to send a positive attitude and calm demeanor.”
BJP’s Rajasthan in-charge Arun Singh also held separate meetings with Raje over the weekend to “understand his mind and discuss the campaign for the upcoming elections”.
In return, Raje is seen in return for positive gestures from the high command. He sent trusted aide Yunus Khan to meet Joshi after his appointment, while other leaders in his camp have been seen attending meetings and events with Joshi over the past three days – something they have not done with Poonia .
“By removing Satish Poonia and appointing a neutral person as the Rajasthan unit president, the party has changed its strategy as it wants to keep Vasundhara Raje happy. The party realized that it would be difficult to win Rajasthan without taking him on board as he is popular and has his own mass base.
“The Raje camp is responding to positive gestures, but she will wait to name campaign heads and management committees,” the source said.
Ticket distribution will be one of the major tasks of the election campaign committee chief, and Raje’s “supporters are demanding his appointment”.
‘Congress will suffocate you with unfulfilled promises’
Speaking to ThePrint, Joshi lashed out at the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government, arguing that “the CM’s unfulfilled promises of farm loan waiver, unemployment allowance for youth and waiving off electricity charges are a coffin for his party I will prove to be the nail”.
“Youth and farmers were cheated. If we look at the statistics of crime, there has been a huge increase in crime in Rajasthan under the rule of Congress. politics of appeasement has become the norm,” he alleged.
“Rajasthan was known for its cohesive society, but under the Gehlot government, Sanctions were kept on religious festivals and festivals.
He said that the anger of the people was clearly visible in the recently concluded ‘Jan Aakrosh Yatra’ of the BJP in the state. “The rally has become a model for any opposition party. Lakhs of political activists participated in villages and towns to raise the issues of common people and such protests happened because of people’s participation. It became a hit,” protested Joshi.
Modi will be the face of the party in Rajasthan
Joshi told ThePrint that the BJP will fight the Rajasthan elections in the name of PM Modi as he is the most popular face of the party.
“We have the most popular face in the world – Prime Minister Narendra Modi. No party has such a person who has worked so tirelessly to establish trust among the people through his work and we feel proud to have such a popular face.
He further said that the Modi government was “the most popular in the world”, while the Congress was on the decline, and alleged that “Gehlot was attacking Modi to appease the minorities in Rajasthan”.
For nine years, the Modi government has worked for the farmers, the poor, the youth and the elderly. Efforts have been made to extend the benefits of welfare schemes to as many beneficiaries as possible, be it Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana, or Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. Joshi said that the Modi government has done in nine years what the Congress could not do in the last 60 years. I am not saying this – the people of Rajasthan are saying this.
According to Joshi, Modi “became a leader because of the masses” and “the Congress should introspect why people rejected the party and lost ground instead of humiliating the country”.
Joshi also defended Poonia on allegations of not taking everyone along in the Rajasthan unit, saying the former state chief did a good job of expanding the BJP “but I will work more in coordination with senior leaders”.
“Satish Poonia did a good job. He expanded the party and organized migration (Tour) across the state – something that no other state unit chief has done in the past. I will continue his work and will work by taking everyone along. I will avenge the betrayal of mothers, farmers and youth and will be the voice of the people in the days to come.
(Editing by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Read also: Why Vasundhara-Meena’s friendship, attacks on Poonia indicate major changes in Rajasthan BJP