Raje Flexed Muscle To Demand Pound Of Flesh

Raje flexed muscle to demand pound of flesh By
Published: 21:17 BST, 7 May 2012 | Updated: 21:17 BST, 7 May 2012
Jaipur on Monday in the wake of the alleged crisis in the party in Rajasthan

Vasundhara Raje on Sunday decided to demand her pound of flesh after flexing her political muscle to good effect a day before.




She forced her rival, Gulab Chand Kataria, to cancel his proposed 'rath yatra' in Udaipur and displayed her strength to the BJP central leadership with a threat of resignation by 62 MLAs, including two Independents, loyal to her.




Having won the brownie points, sources said Raje would now force the party's high command to acknowledge her as Rajasthan's unchallenged leader and declare her as the chief minister-in-waiting for the 2013 assembly elections.

'The MLAs want Raje to be made the undisputed leader,' legislator Bhawani Singh Rajawat, known to be a Raje sidekick, said.




Former Union minister and farmer's union leader Subhash Meharia, another loyalist, said she be named the chief ministerial candidate.


Adding to the voices of sycophancy, Raje loyalist Rohitash Kumar said: 'She is above the party in Rajasthan.'


Former chief minister Raje reportedly conveyed her three-point charter of demands to the national leadership through her two emissaries - MLA Kiran Maheshwari and Rajya Sabha member Om Mathur.




They met Arun Jaitley and https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/bengalinewsblog/688402566546128896 other top leaders in New Delhi on Monday.

Raje demanded a state-level Parivartan Yatra (march for change) within the next two-three months under her leadership; wanted her name to be declared the party's CM candidate for the 2013 polls; and the post of state BJP president after incumbent Arun Chaturvedi's tenure ends in July.




She also asked the leadership to remove Kaptan Singh Solanki as in charge of the state's party affairs. Sources said Raje was forced to show her strength after BJP president Nitin Gadkari approved Kataria's yatra.



It was construed as a royal snub for Raje and she promptly hit back. Though Gadkari was unhappy with the developments, the BJP didn't want the faultlines to become a niggling issue in the run-up to the assembly polls.




The party's troubleshooter-in-chief, Jaitley, reportedly told the state unit in no uncertain terms that Raje would remain the 'undisputed' leader in the state.