Raje critic returns after bypoll debacle

Jaipur: Desperate times call for desperate measures. After the major jolt suffered by state BJP in recent bypolls, the party got a shot in the arm with the former BJP member Kirori Lal Meena all set for ‘ghar vapsi’.
Less than a year ago, there were reports of cross-voting and Kirori Lal Meena camp not supporting BJP during the presidential elections, prompting chief minister Vasundhara Raje to state in an informal chat: “We don’t count him as one of us nor will he be.”

But, on Saturday, the BJP decided to welcome him back into their fold.

However, it must not have been an easy task as Meena has a reputation of being a strong Raje critic. It was she who refused to pacify him when he left the party in 2008, claiming “he was not a mass leader”. Meena, popularly known as ‘Doctor sahab’, too has no love lost for Raje and was often heard saying that his return to the BJP under Raje’s leadership was difficult.

It is believed that Meena’s return is being facilitated by the party’s high command and accelerated after the bypoll debacle, which cut down Raje’s bargaining power to quite an extent. The party is keen to nominate him to Rajya Sabha from the state, and Meena is keen to remain active in state politics.

“Meena is ambitious and has always seen himself as the kingmaker. For the party, he was a leader who came with a certain nuisance value. He has always eyed the top post and, hence, the party would never have agreed to give him a plum post within the state BJP as that would surely to lead to conflict,” admitted a senior office-bearer.

According to sources, his inclusion in the BJP is more of an attempt to control the damage caused by him rather than to reap the benefit from his influence in the assembly seats of Sawai Madhopur, Dausa and Karauli. “Meena had lost to BJP candidates in Sawai Madhopur in 2013 assembly polls and Dausa in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. So, his popularity may not really be what it was a decade ago. However, he can cause damage to the party, which is already fighting battles on several fronts. By his return, it is one battle less,” said a senior elected party member from the state.

Despite several speculations of Meena joining hands with Congress on several occasions and supporting former Ashok Gehlot government in 2008, the state Congress too is happy about his decision to return to BJP. Congressmen feel that as an independent candidate he could have hurt their prospects against BJP, gained due to the anti-incumbency factor, in the forthcoming assembly polls. His return will also hamper attempts to create a third front in the state, helping both BJP and Congress. His return, though, has not surprised many in political circles as speculations regarding this had refused to die down over past decade. Moreover, many within the state BJP believed that he was ideologically closer to RSS-BJP to be comfortable with any other political party.