BJP out to quell infighting among leaders in Jaipur

JAIPUR: In a bid to end infighting in BJP’s Jaipur unit, Union minister and state election in-charge Prakash Javadekar has asked senior party workers and BJP candidate from Jaipur Ramcharan Bohra to bury their differences for the party’s sake.

In a closed-door meeting attended by Bohra, along with present and former BJP MLAs, at the BJP headquarter on Saturday, Javadekar directed them to work together as a team. Bohra has assured the leaders to hold regular meetings with them to minimize the possibility of any feud in future.

Of eight assembly segments in Jaipur

Lok Sabha

seat, five were won by Congress in the recently held Vidhan Sabha polls. The BJP, therefore, does not want to leave any stone unturned to present a unified team before the voters.

The meeting was attended by BJP state president Madan Lal Saini, former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, general secretary (organization) Chandrashekar, Malviya Nagar MLA Kalicharan Saraf and

Sanganer

MLA Ashok Lahoti. Former MLAs Arun Chaturvedi (Civil Lines), Mohan Lal Gupta (

Hawa Mahal

) and

Ashok Parnami

(Adarsh Nagar) also attended the meeting.

It was discussed that victory margin of Congress candidates in five assembly seats, Hawa Mahal, Adarsh Nagar, Civil Lines, Bagru and Kishanpole was on an average less than 10,000. “The defeated MLAs have been asked to cover up the victory margin in their respective seats for victory in the LS," said a source.

“Bohra faced fierce opposition from BJP leaders, including its MLAs, during the feedback by the party’s core committee members. Adding to his woes was the party's internal survey, which was negative for him putting his political career to uncertainty. The survey found that anti-incumbency was quite high for him. Also, the defeat of BJP in assembly segments of Jaipur has questioned his winnability from the BJP's bastion. He was given ticket as the party has not able to find a suitable replacement," said a BJP source.

During the meeting, the stress was on working collectively to ensure BJP’s victory as the stakes on Jaipur seat were very high. "The defeat or victory will cast its spell on the future of all BJP leaders from Jaipur. It is an opportunity to claim the leadership by repeating the highest margin victory," said Saini.