Mathur meets Raje over breakfast, says govt doing good work

JAIPUR: All eyes were at the unexpected meeting of BJP general secretary Om Prakash Mathur and chief minister Vasundhara Raje at the latter's residence on Tuesday morning.
The meeting was interesting as the two leaders had not been in the best of terms lately and Mathur had gained popularity as one of Raje's critics. The Tuesday morning meeting with Raje came a day after Mathur, who was recently appointed party affairs incharge for Uttar Pradesh, met governor Kalyan Singh and state party president Ashok Parnami.
"The chief minister had extended an invitation for breakfast, which I accepted. The party has recorded a historic performance in the Maharashtra assembly elections recently and I was the party's election incharge there. We discussed the politics of Maharashtra,'' said Mathur.
Mathur, a former state party president and an ex-Rajya Sabha MP, is one of the senior party leaders, who is also know as a key strategist of PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. However, relations were not as cordial between Raje and Mathur. Though the two had met occasionally at events, on Tuesday they met officially for the first time since Raje was sworn in as the chief minister in December 2013.
More recently, the social media was abuzz with speculations of a change in power in Rajasthan. Among other things, Lalit Modi's tweet suggesting Mathur be brought in had created a ripple in the political circles. These speculations had reportedly further widened the gap between the two leaders.
However, Tuesday's meeting is seen as an attempt to let the bygones be bygones and send a strong positive message which would rest the speculations. When asked about the recent speculations, Mathur said they must have been triggered by the party's recent performance in Maharashtra. "However, I alone cannot be given the credit. Every worker, member and leader of BJP played an important role,'' said Mathur.
On speculations about his return to the state, he said, "party's decisions are not driven by social media. It is the parliamentary board which decides and whatever role I am given, I will take it up,'' said Mathur. He added that presently his focus is Uttar Pradesh and that the state government in Rajasthan is doing good work.