New Delhi: Several Rajasthan BJP workers, including former MLAs, MP and those who contested elections unsuccessfully in the recent past, have raised concerns over their issues not being heard and work not getting done in their areas, ThePrint has learnt.
Over 150-odd party workers and leaders had attended a meeting Saturday in Jaipur wherein they highlighted their grievances to the BJP central brass.
According to a senior BJP leader, a meeting was called by Rajasthan BJP in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agarwal of former MPs, MLAs, candidates who contested the assembly and Lok Sabha elections unsuccessfully.
“The meeting was called to have a dialogue with all these leaders and party workers. The idea was to get their views on how to strengthen the party. Some of the candidates had lost by a narrow margin and have a huge ground connection. As the incharge, I wanted to get their view on what more can be done for the party at the ground level,” Agarwal told ThePrint.
It, he said, was decided that a general secretary (once the new team is announced) would be deputed who would act as a link between the party and the government.
While Agarwal denied that the party leaders and workers raised concern over the functioning of the government and that their issues are not being heard, some of the leaders who attended the meeting told ThePrint that many pointed out that they are facing difficulty in even getting their own work done.
All this comes at a time when the government has been at the receiving end of criticism from its own party leaders and workers with some even making their grievances public.
“We may have lost the elections but we are very much connected with the public and understand the ground sentiments. We are not even able to get our own work done so how can we even try and address the issues of the public. Some of the ministers are simply not available and it is also difficult to reach out to the chief minister’s office,” a senior party leader said. “If this is our situation, imagine the plight of common people.”
The Bhajan Lal Sharma-led BJP government has been dealing with a number of crises over the past few months, and the idea behind the meeting was to ensure grievances of party workers were addressed adequately.
Another party leader said that it is the “bureaucrats who are literally running the government” and issues being raised by party leaders are being ignored. “Officer haavi ho chuke hai. Kisi ki sunwayi nahi hai (The officers have taken over. No one is listening),” said another leader.
Another BJP leader who attended the meeting said some of the leaders pointed out that they do not get intimations about formal party programmes and highlighted the need for better coordination.
“There are times when former MLAs, MPs or even those who contested unsuccessfully
are not informed about programmes organised by ministers. At the same time, in constituencies where we have our own MLAs, naturally if issues are raised by former MLAs, they don’t get the same attention,” he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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