BJP Parliamentary board fails to take decision on Raje

Defiant BJP leader Vasundhara Raje today got a temporary reprieve as the BJP Parliamentary board deferred a decision on her resignation as leader of opposition in Rajasthan assembly following the party's poor show in Lok Sabha and state polls.

The BJP Parliamentary board, which met here for over three hours, failed to take a decision on Raje's resignation after she refused to step down on her own. Sources aware of the development said that the issue will come up again at the next board meeting on October 22.

They, however, added that since bypolls to assembly seats in Rajasthan are due on November 7, no decision is expected till then. Meanwhile, Raje, who had been summoned by the party leadership to Delhi yesterday, did not turn up citing the absence of Venkaiah Naidu (who is on a trip abroad), who is the pointsman in the episode.
  
A senior party leader said in a lighter vein that BJP has decided against taking major decisions on the occasion of Dhanteras. Prominent Parliamentary board members who were not present in the meeting included Murli Manohar Joshi, Gopinath Munde, Venkaiah Naidu and Bal Apte.

  
The BJP had earlier officially announced that meeting of its Central Election Committee will be held today, but since most of the Central Election Committee members are also in the Parliamentary board, therefore it was decided to hold the meeting of the Parliamentary board first.

Sources said that the RSS attack on the Nitish Kumar government for allotting land to Aligarh Muslim University to open a campus in Bihar also came up for discussion. The board also discussed the issue of Indo-China relations.

After the party's poor performance in both Rajasthan assembly elections and Lok Sabha polls, Raje had been asked to resign from her post. She refused to abide by the party's decision and also got a shot in the arm when more than 50 Rajasthan MLAs came to Delhi and pledged support to her.

They along with Raje tried to meet senior party leader LK Advani, who refused to grant them appointment. Later, when Raje was asked to meet Naidu, she failed to meet him even though she came to Delhi. She had said that she was unwell and even presented a medical certificate.