Even as her fate hangs in the balance, Rajasthan BJP legislature wing leader Vasundhara Raje met Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani and party president Rajnath Singh here on Saturday. About a week ago, the leadership had directed her to quit the post of leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
Ms. Raje told journalists that there was nothing unusual about her calling on senior party leaders as she was scheduled to meet them after their return here from the chintan baithak in Shimla.
There was no word till late in the evening on whether she offered to resign or she was bargaining for some more time. Several party leaders said she would go “sooner or later” and the party was in the mood to crack the whip as it had done on senior leader Jaswant Singh after declaring that his latest book on Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah went against the BJP’s “core beliefs.”
There were reports that Ms. Raje was asking the leadership to revoke the suspension of two MLAs who are her supporters and that she would like to be consulted on who should replace her.
On her way to Delhi by road, she was reportedly given a rousing reception by huge crowds. However, some in the party dismissed it as an organised attempt to demonstrate that she was popular and could not be replaced easily.
