Raje supporters plan show of strength on her birthday

Jodhpur: Celebration of birthday of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje on March 4 is set to become a major show of strength with her supporters raising a call to converge in huge numbers in Salasar. Her followers in Jodhpur assembled at Circuit House on Saturday under the leadership of the former city and district BJP chiefs Jagat Narayan Joshi and Bhopal Singh Badla, respectively and vowed to make the occasion a grand event. “We have set a target to gather a huge crowd of supporters from Jodhpur to the birthday celebration of Rajeji in Salasar. We have been sending vehicles in every constituency for the invitation,” said Joshi. The leaders who addressed the meeting reiterated the ability of Raje to lead the state as the chief minister and urged all to tie a holy thread at Salasar temple wishing for her to become chief minister of the state. But this meeting reaffirmed the divide in the party over Raje as it remained an isolated event with no endorsement of the BJP city or district unit. BJP city president Devendra Joshi said that this meeting had nothing to do officially with the party and had been organized with some leaders and workers. Those who organized the meeting mainly comprised leaders including ex-MPs Jaswant Singh Bishnoi, Ramnarayan Dudi, ex-MLA Babu Singh Rathore, those with minister status then like Meghraj Lohiya, Mahendra Singh Rathore, etc. and about two dozen party workers. “We have to ensure that the best and strongest participation in the birthday event is from Jodhpur. We have to give a message,” said Rathore, former JDA chairman.While addressing the meeting, he said that the government would change and good governance would return under the leadership of Raje.It may be noted that Raje is going to celebrate her birthday on March 4 at Salasar Balaji, a religious place in Churu district and her supporters have been leveraging the occasion as a show of strength of her support.