NEW DELHI: Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje is believed to have vetoed Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat’s candidature for the post of the BJP state unit president.
Though BJP chief Amit Shah was able to replace the Madhya Pradesh unit chief swiftly, his attempts appear to be stuck for want of a consensus nominee in Rajasthan.Shah will announce the new BJP unit chief in a few days, the sources said, adding that Union Minister Arjun Meghwal or Lok Sabha MP Om Birla might get the important post.
Even though the meeting of Raje with the BJP brass, including Shah, on Thursday was expected to bring out consensus on a successor of Ashok Parnami, party sources said Raje did not give her nod to any of the names suggested by the central leadership.
“The CM made it clear that Shekhawat is not acceptable to the party workers in the state. Since Rajasthan goes to the elections in another five months, she argued that the next state chief should be someone who could be a unifying factor for the party,” a source said.
Shekhawat is currently Union Minister of state in Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ welfare.