BJP rebellion in Rajasthan gathers momentum
Even though three more Bharatiya Janata Party legislators have
rebelled against Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh
Shekhawat, BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee feels the
''crisis'' in the northwestern state will blow over soon.
On Monday, Minister of State for Irrigation Punja Lal
resigned from the
Rajasthan council of ministers.
Vajpayee met Shekhawat, who arrived in Delhi early
on Wednesday morning, after undergoing bypass surgery in the
United States.
The former prime minister was
later joined by BJP president Lal Kishinchand Advani,
former president Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and former Delhi
chief minister Madan Lal Khurana who is the party official in charge of Rajasthan.
Rajasthan BJP president Ram Das Agrawal and Deputy Chief
Minister M R Bhabra also arrived from Jaipur.
Though it was officially described as a courtesy call, the BJP
leadership acquainted Shekhawat with the dissident
activities in the state and the measures to be taken to resolve
the issue.
Motilal Kharer, Reoti Prasad Koli and Kamal Koli,
the three rebel legislators, said they were frustrated by Shekhawat's
''dictatorial style of functioning''. The chief minister, they said, had not
called a meeting of the BJP legislature party for the past two
years.
Punja Lal, in the presence of two BJP legislators -- Gopichand Gujjar
and Rewat Ram Panwar -- had announced his resignation from the
Shekhawat ministry on similar grounds.
Kharer, Reoti Prasad Koli and Kamal Koli said the state
government had not done anything for the welfare of scheduled castes,
scheduled tribes and other backward castes in the state while
millions of rupees were being spent on the renovation of
heritage hotels and rajmahals owned by the state's former maharajas.
The dissidents said they had brought this to Advani and Vajpayee's notice,
but they had not been given any assurance about a solution.
The rebels said they would remain in the BJP, but continue to press
for Shekhawat's ouster as chief minister.
Fortytwo legislators, they said, had expressed their resentment against
the chief minister's style of functioning.
"The situation in Rajasthan is worse than what it had
been in Gujarat and it will be no surprise if the Gujarat episode
is repeated in the state," Gujjar said.
Interestingly, state Janata Dal leader Bhanwar Lal Sharma
was present at the dissidents's briefing.
He, however, denied a hand in the rebellion, but
asserted that more and more legislators would
protest against Shekhawat's leadership.
Khurana alleged that ''some political leaders in Delhi with
money bags had tried to enact a JMM-type coup. But they had failed in their
attempts.''
The chief minister returned to Jaipur on Wednesday afternoon.
The party will decide on its course of action after Shekhawat
takes stock of the situation.
Agrawal said the BJP leadership has given him a free hand to crush
the dissidence.
Asked when disciplinary action will be taken against the
dissidents, he said the chief minister would ''expose'' those behind
the dissident activity.
''He (Shekhawat) might be physically weak now, but he is mentally
alert,'' Agrawal added.
Ironically, the upheaval in Rajasthan comes a couple of days before
the BJP leadership meets near Bombay to discuss
indiscipline in the party.
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