VASUNDHARA, SELF-ATTESTED

The BJP high command, it seems, has had a late realisation that it may not be wise to alienate ex-chief minister Vasundhara Raje any further, especially in an election year.

- Rohit Parihar

The 69-year-old Raje had declared some three weeks ago that she planned to hold her birthday celebrations on March 4 instead of on her birth date (March 8) so that it does not overlap with the Holi festivities. But true to form, the state leadership put a spanner in the works. Out of the blue, Rajasthan BJP chief Satish Poonia announced that the party would join its student wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), in gheraoing the assembly on March 4 to protest against rising unemployment and the leaking of recruitment exam papers.

The assembly gherao could have happened on any other day, but the not-so-hidden agenda was to ensure that party legislators were present at the protests and not put in an appearance at Raje’s event in Salasar in Churu district. Though not formally pegged as a political event, it was evident the birthday celebrations were to be a show of strength.