Madan Rathore, who was preparing to leave the party after being angry at not getting an assembly ticket, got everything in the last seven months, which he probably did not even expect. First Rajya Sabha ticket and now the command of the state. Actually, Rathore’s ticket from Sumerpur was cut in the 2023 assembly elections, even though he was an MLA for two times. Angered by this, he had prepared to contest as an independent. At the same time, Rathore received a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. After talking to Modi, Rathore again started working for the party with full intensity. After this, he again got Rajya Sabha in February. By making Madan Rathore the state president, the party has also mastered social engineering while trying to give a message to its OBC voters. Rathore is considered close to Prime Minister Modi. This sent a message that PM Modi is now focusing on Rajasthan again.
When the BJP government was formed in Rajasthan after the assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interest in Rajasthan had diminished. There are discussions that the OBC face whom Modi wanted to make the CM in Rajasthan lost the election. After this, Bhajanlal Sharma, the choice of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, got the opportunity, but since then the situation of Rajasthan BJP started deteriorating.
The party did not pay attention to social engineering. Bhajanlal Sharma did not have enough experience to understand anything. In such a situation, Jats, Meenas and Gurjars got angry. Bureaucracy started dominating the state. Due to which the party suffered a major setback in the Lok Sabha elections. The result of ignoring the caste equation was that BJP lost 11 important seats out of 25. These 11 seats proved to be heavy for BJP. Congress may have lost the assembly elections, but it proved to be heavy on the new BJP. Till now, from the House to the road, Congress is seen to be dominating BJP on every issue. The pair of CM Bhajan Lal and CP Joshi flopped badly. Now Prime Minister Modi has given the responsibility of party’s ‘captain’ to Madan Rathore, who has RSS background and is experienced. It is being understood that this will give strength to the party. Rathore has experience of organization, along with that he has good relations with all the factions.
The first challenge before Rathore is to keep the party united. The effect of changing Arun Singh, who was the party in-charge till now, will also be seen. Arun Singh himself had become the party in Rajasthan. After Radha Mohan Das Agarwal was made the in-charge, it is expected that all the factions will now be heard. Factionalism in Rajasthan is not hidden from anyone. Former CM Vasundhara Raje is angry because of her son. Despite being the most senior, Raje’s son Dushyant Singh did not get a place in Modi 3.0. Raje is still considered very strong. A large number of MLAs are with her. As far as former state president Satish Poonia is concerned, he is looking after the responsibility of Haryana as the in-charge in the organization. Raje and Poonia are said to be in good tuning with both Rathore and Agarwal. It is expected that the duo of Rathore and Agarwal will now perhaps be able to unite the scattered BJP so that it can compete with the Congress.
Meanwhile, the party has retained Vijaya Rahatkar on the post of co-incharge. Be it the assembly elections or the Lok Sabha elections, wherever she was given responsibility, she lived up to it. This is the reason why Rahatkar, who is also known as ‘Tai’, has not been removed by the party. Her role in the party is like that of a guardian. She is associated with all the leaders and workers of the party, starting from Bhajanlal Sharma. That is why the party has once again expressed trust in her.