New Delhi: Jaswant Singh's ouster from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may have softened rebellious former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
Sources tell CNN-IBN that Raje has assured party high command she will obey the directives issued and step down as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly.
Raje has reportedly been promised that her interests will be looked after. Who will take over from her, however, is an issue that hasn’t been resolved yet.
Raje, who is Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly, on Saturday met the party leadership in Delhi after LK Advani reportedly asked her to submit her resignation.
BJP President Rajnath Singh has already asked Raje to put in her papers but the Jhalrapatan MLA has so far refused to blink under any kind of pressure.
CNN-IBN has learnt that she is coming armed with letters of support of 58 MLAs and four MPs from Rajasthan, all expressing their faith in her leadership.
Party sources said Raje wants that her successor as the Leader of the Opposition should belong to her camp. This could be the main bone of contention between the two rival factions in the party's Rajasthan unit.
The group opposed to Raje, which is considered to have RSS backing, wants to replace her with its own candidate.
Sources close to Rajnath said Raje may be offered the post of national general secretary or vice-president after she resigns as leader of the opposition but the appointment in Delhi may not be immediate.
"Raje has made things difficult for herself by showing her belligerence through delay in submitting her resignation and sending her MLAs to Delhi to take up her cause," a party leader said.
Though Raje had sent her loyalist MLAs to the party central leadership to argue her case and demand withdrawal of the order seeking her resignation, she herself has not spoken against the top brass.
"There is nothing to say except... I cannot understand all this because I respect my people in the party....the senior leaders of the party....I was always meant to come here after the Chintan Baithak (in Shimla) and so I am here," she told reporters here earlier in the day.
"There is no need for speculation," she added. Earlier, Rajnath did not set any time frame for Raje to resign.
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