Now, Raje is ‘Goddess Annapurna’

BJP leaders in Rajasthan are forever finding new ways to flatter Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

BJP leaders in Rajasthan are forever finding new ways to flatter Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. The latest to join the “Praise Raje bandwagon” is a former BJP vice-president from Jodhpur. Hemant Bohra has printed posters depicting Raje as Goddess Annapurna, which he has put up in a temple and worships daily.

A priest by profession, Bohra is associated with the BJP only because of his blind faith in Raje. The man, who claims to be “a true worshipper of Raje”, is known to welcome the Chief Minister by blowing conch shells whenever she visits Jodhpur or any other place in the district.

The latest poster of Raje shows her showering the blessings on her ministers. Two ministers, Laxmi Narayan Dave (Forests and Environment) and Pratap Singh Singhvi (Minister of State for Urban Development and Housing), are shown as Kuber and Indra, the gods of wealth and rain respectively.

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And there is more. Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani and BJP National President Rajnath Singh have also found place in the poster as Lord Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva respectively. They are shown showering their blessings on Raje.

Below the picture of the Vasundhara Darbar is the Vasundhara Chalisa. Bohra justifies his divine depiction of the Chief Minister by stating: “Not god, but mother. I have depicted her as Annapurna Mata, the goddess of cooking and food. The one who provides food to so many across the state and takes care of the Rajasthanis as her own children obviously has to be worshiped.” There are many others like Bohra as well. Raje already has to her name a batisha (collection of 32 couplets), chalisa (collection of 40 couplets) and an aarti. A few months ago, Singhvi himself had got a poster printed, which depicted Raje as Goddess Durga.

While Singhvi had put up the poster in the pooja room in his house, Bohra has placed it in a Krishna temple. He has also distributed copies of the poster among other BJP members in Jodhpur.

Though local BJP leaders and officer bearers have refused to comment on the matter, the anti-Raje camp is clearly not impressed. “The fact is that Raje likes all this and she has never directly or indirectly discouraged anyone from doing so, hence these things are happening more often now,” said a leader.