Silence speaks louder than words. But former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje's silence in this assembly election is just deepening the mystery shrouded around her future in the party.
With polling just 10 days away, Raje is still out of action. Even her twitter account is ‘blasting' just customary festive messages and retweets praising prime minister Narendra Modi.
Those who know Raje say that the demeanour of Raje is just a signal of her probable future in the party's scheme of things.
“Had Raje known that she would be the chief minister if BJP wins then she would have ensured victories of at least her loyalists by addressing rallies in their constituencies. But till now she has restricted herself to her constituency with odd appearances here and there,” said a senior BJP functionary, who knows Raje since 2003.
Not even one-tenth of rallies so far as compared to 2018
In 2018 when Raje was defending her crown, she had addressed more than 150 rallies and did a dozen of road shows ahead of elections. But this time BJP being challenger, Raje – the most popular party's face – has to be more aggressive. But she has barely addressed a dozen rallies and so far no significant road show to press upon the party's agenda on public.
“Her body language is different this time. She is in her shell waiting for central leadership to bestow her with responsibility. The wait then is unending leaving Raje as a silent spectator,” said Rakesh Shukla, a political observer.
PM Modi leads the pack
With the party deciding to project Raje as any other candidate, prime minister Narendra Modi has occupied the pilot seat. He has pushed party's agenda in his rallies which have gained lot of traction in the state. Pushing the agenda of Hindutva a little more harder, he is scheduled to hold road shows in Jaipur and Jodhpur on November 22 and 23 respectively. The role of Raje in these two road shows is yet not clear. Even her presence is not certain. Recently, in PM's Udaipur rally, Raje was not present. This was for the first time, she gave a miss to PM's meeting.
“Raje is in no mood to compete with central leadership this time. She doesn't want to force herself on party. So she is playing it slow. When PM is there to address a rally, her role automatically gets limited. So, she will not get under the shadow of PM,” said a senior party functionary.
Vivek Shukla is a management graduate who has worked in corporate worked for 20 years and is now pursuing his passion — news.
