Rajsamand MlA Kiran Maheshwari and Rajya Sabha member Bhupendra Yadav have emerged as frontrunners for Rajasthan BJP chief’s position.
The party needs to have a new chief in the State unit as Vasundhara Raje has taken charge as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan on December 13. Maheshwari, a close associate of Raje, is also the national vice-president of the BJP and has headed the party’s Mahila Morcha in the earlier stint of Rajnath Singh as BJP’s national president between 2007 and 2009. She represented Udaipur lok Sabha constituency in the previous House.
Speculation about Maheshwari becoming Rajasthan BJP chief gained momentum after her name did not figure in the list of Ministers who were inducted in Raje’s Cabinet on December 19. Yadav is another claimant to the post. He is the national secretary of the BJP and played a crucial role in the recent Assembly election as the right-hand man of Raje. Yadav belongs to Haryana and is a member of the Upper House of Parliament from Rajasthan. His ‘outsider’ tag, however, may spoil his chances.