Raje’s absence from BJP protest again exposes rift within party

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When asked why the party officials concerned were unaware about her absence, a spokesperson of Team Raje said, “I am surprised that they did not know. Therefore, I’m putting this down as an official line of contact.”…reports Archana Sharma

There seems to be no let-up in the alleged rift within the BJP in Rajasthan, with the communication gap in the saffron camp in the desert state again painting a not so rosy picture.

On Wednesday, the two groups, one led by former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and the other by BJP’s state unit chief Satish Poonia, shared two different versions with IANS for Raje’s absence from the BJP’s protest staged here on Tuesday to press for a CBI probe into the REET (Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers) paper leak scandal.

Raje’s team on Wednesday confirmed with IANS that the former CM’s daughter-in-law was in New Delhi for a therapy, hence she had to rush to the national capital to be with her.

Vasundhara Raje

When asked why the party officials concerned were unaware about her absence, a spokesperson of Team Raje said, “I am surprised that they did not know. Therefore, I’m putting this down as an official line of contact.”

Meanwhile, the organisational team of the state BJP confirmed with IANS that it had no clue that Raje and four other MLAs from her camp were not attending Tuesday’s protest.

“It was decided from beforehand at the MLAs’ meeting that a major protest will be staged on Tuesday in Jaipur to press the demand for a CBI probe into the REET paper leak scam. The party’s state in-charge, Arun Singh, had assigned task to each MLA vial a virtual call. Till that time, it was not known that Raje, along with Kalicharan Saraf, Pratap Singhvi and Kailash Meghwal, shall not come to the protest site,” said a member from Team Poonia.

Meanwhile, when asked about this, the Raje camp said, “By the time a notice was issued, madam was already in Delhi.”

Her daughter-in-law’s therapy was scheduled earlier., and it is done at intervals, said the Raje camp.

“But they could have kept us updated. It was only after we called that we were informed about her visit to Delhi,” said a Team Poonia member.

It needs to be mentioned here that a major protest was staged in Jaipur on Tuesday, demanding a CBI probe into the REET paper leak scandal.

The Team Raje also shared a news clipping with IANS which has an interview of Raje, where she could be heard pressing for a CBI probe into the REET scandal.

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