By the BJP’s own standards, they were to be retired, and relegated to the haloed halls of Margdarshak Mandal as mentors of the party’s next generation, but unlike their counterparts in national politics, several local BJP leaders way past the 75-year threshold have got another shot at the upcoming Assembly polls.
Speaker of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha, Kailash Meghwal, is already 84 years of age. The ageing leader who represents the Scheduled Caste community was mentored by none other than the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The BJP leadership, however, is of the firm belief that Meghwal has still some juice left for one last sprint to help take the party across the finish line in the Assembly polls.
Suryakanta Vyas, lovingly addressed as Jiji bai (elder sister) in Jodhpur — a seat she has represented nearly half-a-dozen times. Vyas, now an octogenarian, says she is humbled to have found her name in the first list. She gets to contest the Soorsagar seat in Jodhpur district. Her DOB according to legislative assembly records is April 15, 1938.
The party has also shown faith in candidate Amra Ram Choudhary. Choudhary, born on April 10, 1943, has been given a ticket from the Pachpadra seat in Barmer.
Party’s state spokesperson Lakshmikant Bhardwaj when asked if the old war horses were not usurping chance of a young candidate, said, “They are the senior-most party workers. The party has chosen to repose the faith in them.”