BJP announces 2 Rajasthan poll panels, Vasundhara Raje missing from both

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

BJP on Thursday announced two key election committees for the Congress-run Rajasthan, with former chief minister Vasundhara Raje not being made a member of any of them. Later, the party launched a membership drive in Jaipur and held a core committee meeting but Raje was not present in any of the events. Apart from her, former state president and deputy leader of opposition Satish Poonia, leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat are not part of the two committees.

The 21-member election management committee is headed by former MP Narayan Panchariya. Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will lead the election manifesto panel, called the Pradesh Sankalp Patra (manifesto) Committee. The party is expected to announce a third panel — an election campaign committee — for the state in the coming weeks, before the year-end assembly polls.

When asked about Raje's non-inclusion in the poll panels, BJP state in-charge Arun Singh said she will campaign in the election. «She is the national vice president of the party. She has a big role to play.

She has been the chief minister of the state twice. She will campaign in the election. We all respect her,» he told reporters.

He said the election management committee has experienced leaders to manage day-to-day poll-related activities. Singh also said the election manifesto committee has representation from all sections of society, including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, so that their expectations can be incorporated in the manifesto. BJP's state election in-charge and Union minister Pralhad Joshi said both state and central leaders of the party will campaign for the crucial polls.