BJP workers protest against Vasundhara Raje

Jaipur: Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje is currently touring the state with her “Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra”, but trouble is brewing in her own backyard.

Some BJP workers organised a rally against her in Jhalawar, a parliamentary constituency she represented five terms from 1989 to 2003 on a trot, followed by her son Dushyant Singh since 2004. Ms Raje’s Assembly constituency Jhalrapatan also falls in the same district.

The CM is scheduled to visit this area from September 10 to 13. She will arrive in her constituency Jhalarapatan on September 13.

Such is her inluence in the area that the Congress has always struggled to find a formidable candidate to challenge her.  Last such attempt was Assembly election 2003, when Rama Pilot, mother of present PCC chef and wife of late Rajesh Pilot, was fielded against Ms Raje. Yet, outcome in both Jhalarapatan Assembly as well as Jhalawar, which is now called Jhalawar-Baran, had been a foregone conclusion.

In such scenario, a bike rally carrying placards and shouting slogans like “Vasundhra, go back” and “Vasundhra quit Jhalaw-ar”, that too by people claiming to be BJP workers, has taken everyone by surprise. They were protesting against corruption and lack of development works in Jhala-war, the organisers said.

“We have launched the ‘Vasundhra, quit Jhalawar movement’ on the lines of Quit India Movement, as the public in CM Raje’s home constituency are fed up with corruption, non-development in the 30 years of her rule,” said Pramod Sharma who claimed to be a BJP worker for two decades. He alleged that Ms Raje has done nothing for the common man of her constituency.