Rift grows between Vasundhara Raje, Rajputs in Rajasthan

Jaipur: All is still not well between Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and the Rajput community. Rajputs have been traditional BJP supporters since days of the Jan Sangh. However, relations soured after encounter of gangster Anandpal Singh, the acrimony over film Padmaavat and caste violence in Samrau. It now seems to have hit rock bottom following Ms Raje’s opposition to Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat as state BJP president.

A section of Rajput leaders within the party who were once very close to the CM and even owed their entry into politics have been openly expressing their displeasure with the CM. On her part, the CM too is showing indifference to them.

Currently, in Sawai Madhopur on a three-day tour for “Jam Samvad” (public interaction), the CM is going to meet people in three out of four assembly constituencies in the district but skipped Sawai Madhopur where she returns for the night halts.

Sawai Madhopur is constituency of Diya Kumari, the member of erstwhile royal family of Jaipur. It was Ms Raje who brought her into politics and fielded her from Sawai Madhopur. However, Diya Kumari was conspicuous by her absence during the CM’s visit in her constituency.

Their relations strained two years ago when Ms Raje’s trusted bureaucrat Jaipur Development Commissioner Shikhar Agarwal locked entrance gates of Raj Mahal Palace a hotel owned by the royal family. Even as  Diya’s mother Padmini Devi led a protest march over locking of entrance gates of Raj Mahal Palace, the state government defended the move by the IAS officer. The matter was finally resolved after intervention from Delhi.