As the huge crowd caught a glimpse of the saree-clad leader climbing the steps of the stage swarming with BJP leaders, MLAs and MPs, it burst into roaring applause.
Many women stood up holding their veils while a group of men clambered up the iron railings as Vasundhara Raje, two-time ex-chief minister of Rajasthan, greeted her supporters, who kept on raising slogans hailing her:
“Kesariya mein hara hara, Rajasthan mein Vasundhara (Green in saffron, in Rajasthan there is Vasundhara), Vasundhara ji raj karo (Vasundhara ji, rule), Abki baar, Vasundhara sarkar (this time, Vasundhara government).”
Five years after she undertook the Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls from the pilgrimage town of Charbhuja, Raje returned to another temple town — Salasar in Churu district — to hold a massive show of strength Saturday in the run-up to the upcoming Assembly elections amidst a raging tussle for leadership within the state BJP.
The rally was timed tactfully as part of the celebration for Raje’s 70th birthday, which falls on March 8, when Holi will also be celebrated. While her supporters maintained that it was a birthday event, there was barely any doubt over its political significance and messaging.
“Today, a new foundation for the future of Rajasthan will be laid. In order to wake up this Congress government that has been sleeping for four and half years, the sherni (lioness) of Rajasthan has arrived. There is only one voice that should go from Jaipur to Delhi — hail Vasundhara!” thundered Rahul Kaswan, the BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Churu, as the crowd responded with Vasundhara Zindabad slogans.
Significantly, the event to celebrate Raje’s birthday at Salasar took place, even as a major protest was held during the same day by the BJP’s Yuva Morcha in Jaipur against the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government over the exam paper leaks, which was joined by state BJP president Satish Poonia, a known rival of Raje.
The BJP’s Rajasthan in-charge Arun Singh took part in the protest in Jaipur in the afternoon before leaving to meet Raje at Salasar. BJP sources said that Singh’s balancing act was planned by the BJP high command to avoid a controversy and send a message that both the events were approved by the party.
