Vasundhara Raje Sets Record Straight After Pic With Ashok Gehlot Goes Viral

BJP leader Vasundhara Raje met with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot after the inauguration of the Constitution Club of Rajasthan in Jaipur last night. Ms Raje did not share the stage with the Chief Minister during the ceremony but met him separately following the event.

A cropped photo of the two leaders together went viral on social media, triggering rumours about the political implications of the meeting. The picture showed just Ms Raje and Mr Gehlot at the meeting, however, it was also attended by Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Dr CP Joshi and Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore.

After the photo went viral, Ms Raje's office was forced to share the original image with Mr Joshi and Mr Rathore in the frame with Chief Minister Gehlot.

Elections to the 200-seat Rajasthan Assembly are scheduled to take place later this year, with the BJP hoping to wrest back power from the Congress. 

While Congress is still trying to pacify the Ashok Gehlot-Sachin Pilot feud, which nearly toppled the government in 2020, the BJP would be hoping to exploit the ruling party's internal divisions.

The party has yet to announce its candidates for the state elections, or to provide any clear indication of its strategy. However, reports indicate that the party is relying on the combined leadership of Ms Raje, Mr Rathore, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Satish Poonia, among other leaders to take on the ruling Congress. The four leaders are being given equal weightage in the party's election campaign in the state, including the recently concluded Parivartan Yatra.

However, yesterday, Ms Raje's absence from the last leg of the Parivartan Yatra on her home ground, the Hadoti area of Rajasthan comprising Kota, Bundi and Jhalawar, raised many questions.

Ms Raje, who was missing from Jhalawar, a constituency she has represented for the past 33 years as MP and MLA, and also from the Parivartan Yatra that ended in Kota on Thursday evening, has sparked speculation about her future in the BJP. Ms Raje's absence was even more conspicuous given the fact that chief ministers from other BJP-ruled states, such as Assam's Himanta Biswa Sarma, flew in to add some energy to the party's campaign.

Kota is considered a BJP stronghold, and the lacklustre end to the BJP's Parivartan Yatra has sent signals that all may not be well within the party, which is still beset by factionalism.

Ms Raje and Leader of Opposition Mr Rathore were among the big names in Rajasthan politics who were excluded from the two committees that the BJP established in preparation for the crucial state assembly elections later this year. The list of names for the sankalp (manifesto) committee and the election management committee does not include the two senior BJP leaders.