After Pilot-Cong patch up, BJP to send Muralidhar Rao to Raj

New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) Just days after the Congress and Sachin Pilot decided to bury the hatchet, the central BJP leadership has decided to send a key leader from New Delhi to 'take stock' of the current political situation in Rajasthan.BJP's National Secretary P. Muralidhar Rao has been chosen for the job, and he is expected to reach Jaipur soon and start interacting with the BJP lawmakers. The decision comes less than a week after BJP leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje met BJP President J.P. Nadda in New Delhi.Many believe that a large chunk of Rajasthan BJP lawmakers are extremely loyal to Vasundhara Raje, which made any attempt by the BJP to repeat a Madhya Pradesh in Rajasthan almost next to impossible. Now, Rao will "gauge the mood" of the BJP lawmakers and also get a first hand sense of the on ground political situation in the desert state.Political pundits in the state say that the month-long political crisis witnessed a 'happy ending' due to the role played by Vasundhara Raje, who made "all efforts" to keep the Ashok Gehlot government safe and ensured rebel Sachin Pilot's patch up with the Congress. Earlier, BJP ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) had accused BJP leader and former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of helping her Congress successor Ashok Gehlot by asking his party's MLAs to support him.Many blame it on keeping Raje, who sways enormous power in Rajasthan BJP, in the dark.With new political realities, Muralidhar Rao's visit assumes significance where a more "open discussion" is expected to take place, said sources.
--IANS abn/arm