Jaipur:

Senior BJP leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Sunday created ripples with a loaded statement on loyalty and political growth.

“The era of loyalty was different earlier when the person who promoted someone in politics was respected. However, this is not the case in the present times… Today people first want to chop off the finger of a person who taught them to walk,” she said at a programme of the Sundar Singh Bhandari Charitable Trust in Udaipur.

Assam Governor and former minister Gulabchand Kataria was also present at the programme. Kataria, on this occasion, reportedly had an argument with a worker on the stage.

This programme was organised on the occasion of the death anniversary of Jan Sangh founding member Sundar Singh Bhandari and the martyrdom day of founder Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jaipur (Rajasthan):

Taking a dig at Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former Rajasthan chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje on Monday said while the Congress makes many promises to the people before elections, there are no guarantees that they would be fulfilled if they win.

Speaking to ANI on Monday, the senior BJP leader said, “A few days ago, Priyanka Gandhi visited Rajasthan. She expressed concern over the state of women in Rajasthan, which is under Congress rule currently. If they (Rajasthan govt) had implemented the (Centre’s) ‘Nari Shakti’ scheme in earnest, it would have helped the women of Rajasthan. Whenever she and her brother (Rahul Gandhi) come visiting the state, they make plenty of promises to the people. However, with the Congress, there’s no guarantee that they would deliver on their promises if elected.”

Claiming that the Congress government did not waive off farmer loans despite being in power for five years, Ms Raje, who is seeking a fresh term in the Assembly from the Jhalrapatan constituency, added, “Owing to rising crimes against women in the state, families fear for the safety of their female members.”

Addressing an election rally in Jhunjhunu earlier, Priyanka Gandhi announced that the Congress would give Rs 10,000 annually to women as honorarium if elected in the state.

The polls for the 200-member assembly in Rajasthan will be held on November 25.

The counting of votes, along with those of four other poll-bound states, will take place on December 3.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jaipur:

Vasundhara Raje, former Rajasthan chief minister, was among the 83 candidates announced by BJP to contest in the upcoming state assembly elections. Ms Raje will contest from her traditional Jhalrapatan seat.

Ms Raje has been at loggerheads with Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and has not been visible in BJP’s election blitz yet. The two leaders have not been close ever since Ms Raje opposed Mr Shekhawat’s appointment as BJP chief in Rajasthan in 2018 saying it would distance the jaat community from the party in the 2018 elections.

Ms Raje being sidelined in BJP’s first list of candidates had drawn sharp reactions from the opposition. But in a move that is seen as an attempt to balance political equations, several of Ms Raje’s supporters also feature in BJP’s new list.

But after the party’s Central Election Committee meeting on Friday, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president JP Nadda, BJP has decided to bank on the popularity of Ms Raje, who is accepted across the different voter bases in the state.

Vasundhara Raje comes from the Scindia royal family, the former rulers of Gwalior, now in Madhya Pradesh. Her mother Vijayaraje Scindia was a prominent leader in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) and later in the BJP. Her brother Madhavrao Scindia was a prominent Congress leader.

In its second list, BJP also fielded Narpat Singh Rajvi from Chittorgarh from Vidhyadhar Nagar seat after its earlier decision to deny the five-term MLA. Mr Rajvi is the son-in-law of its stalwart leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and his name missing from the first list triggered a backlash from a section of party workers.

The BJP leadership’s U-turn on his candidature is being seen as a damage-control exercise after Mr Rajvi reacted angrily and cited his family legacy to hit out at the party.

Elections will be held in the five crucial states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram between November 7 and 30, and the results will be declared on December 3, the Election Commission said. All 200 seats in Rajasthan will see voting on November 25.

In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress won 100 seats, while the BJP had 73. The Congress finally formed the government, and Ashok Gehlot was installed as Chief Minister, after support from the Bahujan Samaj Party, which claimed six seats.

The BJP is preparing to wrest power from Congress in the forthcoming assembly elections in Rajasthan. The BJP will rely heavily on Vasundhara Raje, a two-time Chief Minister and one of the party’s tallest leaders in the state.

Here are five points about the senior BJP leader:

Jaipur:

Preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled mega event in poll-bound Rajasthan later today saw Union Minister and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat last evening knocking on the doors of a party colleague he doesn’t see eye-to-eye with — former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. The BJP’s campaign for the state elections will kick off today, with a “Parivartan Maha Sammelan” in Jaipur, to be addressed by the PM. The event marks the culmination of the BJP’s four-phase “Parivartan Yatras”, led by senior party leaders across Rajasthan, which travelled across all 200 assembly constituencies to build momentum for the party ahead of the state elections.

Ms Raje was missing from the Yatra on her home turf in Jhalawar and Kota in the last two days. Mr Shekhawat’s sudden visit, triggering political buzz, is being seen as a courtesy call to send out a message that Vasundhara Raje is on board with the BJP, and happy to be part of the combined leadership formula of the Parivartan Yatra.

The two leaders have not been close ever since Ms Raje opposed Mr Shekhawat’s appointment as BJP chief in Rajasthan in 2018 saying it would distance the jaat community from the party in the 2018 elections.

After meeting Mr Shekhawat, Ms Raje also attended the BJP’s core committee meeting held at night at the BJP office in Jaipur.

आज भाजपा प्रदेश कार्यालय पर आयोजित भाजपा कोर कमेटी की बैठक में हिस्सा लिया। #BJP4Rajasthanpic.twitter.com/2O8KhlSrUB

— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) September 24, 2023

The mega rally in Dadiya in Sanganer, 16 km south of Jaipur, today will also see the PM take part in a public meeting on the passing of the women’s reservation bill. The BJP’s women’s wing has been tasked with organising the event. They will command 42 blocks of the “Parivartan Sankalp Mahasabha”, and also shower flower petals on the PM has he reaches the stage in an open jeep.

Before the rally, the PM will pay respects to Deendayal Upadhyaya at a memorial constructed at his native place in Dhankya Village, about 40 kms from the venue.