New Delhi: Already reeling under poor
performance in assembly elections, BJP on Thursday faced further
trouble with Vasundhara Raje continuing her defiance by not
keeping her appointment with party's pointsperson Sushma
Swaraj to discuss her fate.
Raje, the Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly,
was scheduled to meet senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj here.
However, she remained incommunicado, leaving the party
guessing about her next move.
"Vasundhara was to meet me on October 20. But she called
me to say she has to go to Mumbai for some work and will meet
me on October 21 or 22. But till now, I have not heard from
her," Swaraj, who has been appointed pointsperson to deal with
her, told agency.
BJP has convened a Parliamentary Board meeting tomorrow
morning to discuss the Raje issue as well as the causes for
the poor performance of the party in the assembly
polls, especially in Maharashtra.
Raje may be given time till the November 7 by-elections
in Rajasthan, sources said.
There were apprehensions that Raje may demand removal of
those at the helm of party affairs in the elections to
Maharashtra and Haryana before she steps down.
The party high command had asked Raje in August to own up
moral responsibility for BJP's defeat in the Lok Sabha and
the state assembly polls and step down as Leader of Opposition
in the assembly.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 20:17