By Archana SharmaJaipur, May 14 : The emphatic Congress win in the Karnataka assembly polls has shocked and surprised the saffron party in Rajasthan.
Although senior BJP leaders in Rajasthan were saying that it is a tough fight in Karnataka, they could not have ever imagined that the Congress could manage a standalone majority.
Even at a time when senior BJP leaders, one after the other, were leaving the party and joining the Congress, the saffron party leaders were quite confident about their smooth sailing.
“This keeps happening.Those who don’t get tickets leave the party and the BJP is one party who is least worried about such leaders.We can manage.
Gujarat was a similar case and see how we won,” said a senior leader talking to IANS at a party event when leaders were leaving the party.
Other leaders said that after May, Rajasthan will be the focus of the BJP.Party leaders will be camping here to ensure we form the government.The party is waiting for the Karnataka polls to be over and then we shall take a stand on senior leaders, if they should be accommodated or denied any role.
“In fact, the party is quiet on senior leaders now and is not yet opening its cards on the CM face.Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s posters are back and she as well as her followers are being given respectable space in all programmes unlike earlier when she was sidelined.
This is because the party seems to be learning its lesson — sidelining senior leaders never helps.These leaders and their followers will dump you if you try to sideline them,” said a saffron party senior.
He said in Rajasthan too, the party earlier sidelined Raje and then former BJP president Satish Poonia.
While the Raje camp was aggrieved, later the Jat lobby also became annoyed with the way Poonia was removed.
There were protests outside the party office in Jaipur.Even RSS leaders expressed annoyance at the way Poonia was removed.He being a farmer and a Jat leader meant losing votes from these two segments in the assembly polls in both Rajasthan and Haryana and in the Lok Sabha polls as well.
“Now, it seems the time has come when the party learns its lesson.Leaders need to be respected.They will in turn recharge the motivation of booth workers who will ensure the party’s victory,” said a senior BJP leader.
Factionalism is being promoted by party leaders.Favouritism should not be the order of the day, the senior leaders deserve respect and the young leadership needs to be nurtured.But it’s the other way at present.Hope the party learns from the Karnataka poll results.Modi’s face cannot always ensure victory.This was proven in the Himachal Pradesh polls too.Now the Rajasthan story should be written with respect, regard for seniors while giving new responsibilities to budding leaders, said BJP leaders.
Overall, we can sum up the Karnataka results as ‘Give respect to seniors’.The Congress did it and won the battle.Let’s see how the BJP works in the coming elections in Rajasthan, said a BJP worker.
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