The tug of war between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over who would replace Ashok Parnami, who recently quit as the Rajasthan State unit chief, continued on Thursday, with the CM huddled in meetings with national president Amit Shah and general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal in New Delhi.
Mr. Parnami was considered close to Ms. Raje. He was asked to quit the post as the State unit chief in an overhaul, after being trounced by the Congress in the recent bypolls in Rajasthan.
State unit chiefs of Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh had also quit, but the replacement for Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur Lok Sabha MP Rakesh Singh, had been appointed quickly.
That same speed has been missing with regard to Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
According to senior party sources, the BJP top brass is in favour of appointing Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to the post, while Ms. Raje has been pushing the case of Shrichand Kriplani, and even a new entrant in the race, Laxminarayan Dave.
