It seems the time is up for Vasundhara Raje. The former Rajasthan Chief Minister cannot any longer delay tendering her resignation as Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
This was clearly indicated here by BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu after he, along with Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, met for nearly two hours at the residence of party president Rajnath Singh.
The message is that Ms. Raje would have to quit in the next few days, failing which she could face tough disciplinary action.
After the recent turbulence in the party, the leadership is in no mood to ignore dissidence and rebellion.
“She will abide by the party’s decision [that she should resign],” Mr. Naidu told journalists, adding it was prepared to wait until she recovered from her “viral fever,” which she cited as the reason for her not meeting him on Monday.
The decision to tell her to put in her papers was taken after consultations among Mr. Rajnath Singh, L.K. Advani and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, it is learnt. The BJP president is not willing to relent or reverse that decision. Nor will the leadership oblige her by withdrawing the suspension of two of her loyalists before she hands over her resignation letter.
It seems the Raje issue was one of the several subjects discussed with Mr. Rajnath Singh by his party colleagues here on Tuesday. The issue of preparing a “road map” for the party is also believed to have come up, although Mr. Naidu maintained that the meeting was to discuss the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.
“We discussed the elections in three States,” Mr. Naidu said. However, it is learnt, the meeting with Mr. Rajnath Singh was sought by the next generation leaders and not called by the BJP president to discuss poll preparedness.
