Will BJP leadership act against Vasundhara as she refuses to back down?

New Delhi: With weeks to go for Rajasthan Legislative Assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party may be staring at a possible defeat as its senior leader and former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has seemingly refused to tow the party line.

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Jaipur, the former CM held a show of strength by hosting a meeting of her loyalists in Jaipur.

This is being seen as an attempt by Vasundhara to flex her muscles ahead of the crucial assembly polls in the state as she lobbies for a say in the ongoing ticket distribution process.

The meeting again brought to the fore the differences between her and the top leadership of the saffron unit even as the process for the selection of candidates for the forthcoming polls is already underway.

Interestingly, the local leaders have complained to the top leadership about Vasundhara not taking an active part in the BJP’s ongoing Parivartan Yatra against the Congress' Ashok Gehlot government.

Sources stated that the question now being asked at the state unit level is whether will the top BJP leadership have the courage to act against Vasundhara for this misadventure and term it as anti-party activity.

It was pointed out that the leadership is fearful that any harsh action against the former CM can have disastrous consequences for the party and could fuel possible rebellion, costing the saffron unit dearly in the forthcoming polls. However, any inaction against her may give rise to a 2018-like situation for the party where the saffron unit lost in a close contest due to internal sabotage, believed to be the handiwork of the Vasundhara camp.

Sources stated that despite repeated attempts by top leadership of the BJP, the party has been unable to restrict and streamline the role of Vasundhara. With this latest show of strength, the former Chief Minister has amply displayed that she is unwilling to abide by the instructions.

Many in the state unit are pushing for action against her and believe any delay will only worsen the situation for the party. The time to act any disobedience and indiscipline is now, was the widespread sentiment in the saffron unit.

Rajasthan is an important state for both the BJP and Congress and the two are in direct contest for the important state ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

On the other hand, the Congress leadership seems confident in Rajasthan, riding on the back of a recent win in Karnataka polls, and feels that it can win in the desert state. One of the crucial factors for this confidence is the widely-held perception that the BJP has been unable to tackle Vasundhara.

This has allowed the Congress to target an unprecedented second successive term in the state, though Rajasthan has a history of awarding Assembly wins to BJP and Congress alternately.

The BJP-Rashtriya Loktantrik Party alliance had secured all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan in 2019. This completely reversed the Assembly polls outcome of 2018 where the BJP was only able to secure 75 seats in the 200-member Assembly. The BJP had also successfully secured all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan in the 2014 general elections, a record which the saffron unit wants to repeat in 2024.

However, unless BJP’s central leadership acts against indiscipline with an iron fist, the Assembly polls in the desert state may be a lost cause for the saffron unit. The BJP needs to hasten the implementation of its strategy and candidates for the 200-member Assembly polls soon, while at the same time putting a lid on its rebels issue if it wants to emerge as a serious contender in the forthcoming polls.