City Reports

Vasundhara Raje skips BJP-RLP alliance announcement

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April 5, 2019, 11:52 am

RLP BJP alliance

Hanuman Beniwal, Prakash Javedkar and Madanlal Saini in a press conference.

Jaipur: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday joined hands with Rashtriya Loktantrik Party. Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje was conspicuous by her absence.  Her differences with RLP leader Hanuman Beniwal have hogged headlines many times in the past.

Beniwal announced to form an alliance with BJP party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2019 on Thursday. He will contest the election from Nagaur. The BJP won’t field a candidate from the constituency and support Beniwal.

There were speculations that Raje was not happy with the alliance between the RLP and the BJP, but since she is now national vice president her presence was not mandatory, sources in the party said.

Raje didn’t attend the press conference at the BJP headquarters in Jaipur where the announcement about the alliance was made on Thursday. Some senior leaders including Prakash Javedkar and state president Madanlal Saini were present.

Putting stop to the speculation, Javedkar in the conference said that the party sought approval from Raje before forming an alliance with Beniwal’s party. She agreed and could not come to the press conference due to her business. 

Beniwal ignored questions regarding Raje. He kept saying that he is forming an alliance with the BJP for the sack of the country’s development.

Also, the party has not fielded CR Chaudhary who is believed to be a Raje loyalist.

The BJP expects to gain from its alliance with the RLP party in several constituencies including Naguar, Jaipur rural, Pali, Rajsamand, Sikar, Barmer- Jaisalmer, and Bikaner.

The BJP is yet to release the names of its candidates for five Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan, while the Congress has announced candidates for all the 25 seats.

Beniwal had won in 2008 on a BJP ticket but was suspended from the party in 2012 due to the differences with then CM Vasundhara Raje. In 2013, he contested as an independent from Khinvsar and won.

Beniwal floated his party in October 2018 before the Assembly elections 2018 and named it ‘Rashtriya Loktantrik Party’.

First published: April 5, 2019