RAJASTHAN BJP'S CHARGE TO JOSHI BODES ILL FOR RAJE

Message is that the party brass won't yield to pressure from Vasundhara Raje this time.

- AJIT MAINDOLA

Appointment of Chandra Prakash Joshi as the new state president of BJP does not augur well for former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. The message is that the party leadership will not yield to pressure from Raje this time.

However, the vacant post of Leader of Opposition can still keep Raje hopeful. The LOP post has been lying vacant since Gulab Chandra Kataria was appointed as Assam Governor. He resigned as LoP last month. Raje will be weakened politically if she is not given this post too. In other words, it would be the end of Raje's era in the Rajasthan BJP. State BJP president C.P. Joshi would now be seen as CM face of the party for the upcoming polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take charge of the election campaign in Rajasthan which will go to polls this year-end.