They had all existed somewhat inconveniently for decades under the long shadow of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in the BJP’s Rajasthan unit. Always desperate to come out of the veteran leader’s shadow, the entire pack — former deputy chief minister Hari Shankar Bhabhra, former state presidents Lalit Chaturvedi, Ramdas Agrawal and Raghuvir Singh Kaushal and former minister Ghanshyam Tewari — felt free when the old warhorse moved to the Centre as the Vice-President. Not for long, though. He had the last laugh when he had the high command depute Vasundhara Raje to the state as the party’s chief ministerial candidate.They protested and plotted against her. Chaturvedi fell in line fast, while others persisted. They suspected that Raje would function only as a proxy chief minister (khadaun mukhya mantri) for Shekhawat . As the BJP released its first list of 93 candidates today, it was clear their worst fears were over. Raje, as it appears, is on her own. It is a conservative list, accommodating all sections, including those who questioned her leadership initially.Bhabhra, her most vocal critic, has been left untouched. He has been renominated from his traditional Ratangarh constituency, where he had lost by a narrow margin last time. Tewari wanted to shift from the unsafe Chomu constituency in Sikar district to Sanganer in Jaipur. The high command, which had initially ruled that nobody will be allowed to change his seat, relented to Tewari’s wish today.Chaturvedi is the next in line — he wants to move from Kota, where he lost by a big margin, to the adjacent Bundi or Digod. Kirori Lal Meena, senior MLA and an old detractor of Shekhawat, is keen on shifting from Bamanwas to Todabhim. The party has withheld their names, indicating they may be allowed to move to constituencies of their choice.In contrast, Shekhawat’s son-in-law Narpat Singh Rajvi, is left pinned to Chittorgarh, which he wanted to give up for Amer. The seat has gone to Navin Pilania, son of Jat Mahasabha chief G.P. Pilania, whose support is vital for the party. The effort is discernible from the way it has picked up candidates from the community. Vimla Dudi, widow of former minister Lal Chand Dudi (Bhadra), Ram Pratap (Hanumangarh), Kamala Kaswan, wife of Ram Singh Kaswan, MP (Sadulpur), veteran leader Sumitra Singh (Jhunjhunu), Dharmpal Chaudhry (Mundawar), Sanwar Mal Jat (Bhinai) and Ratan Lal Jat (Sahada). Those waiting for tickets include former minister Ganga Ram Chaudhry and ex-Union minister Jagdeep Dhankar.By withholding the names for over half of the 200 seats, the leadership obviously wants to arrive at a unanimity within the party and see the Congress list unfold. The BJP may bring in a strong candidate against CM Ashok Gehlot from Sardarpura. There is suspense over seats of Jaipur, Kota, Alwar and Bharatpur districts. It is likely to last till November 9.
