Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Jaipur: Senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje denied taking retirement from politics anytime soon and reiterated that she is here to stay for long. She was speaking to reporters after filing her nomination from Jhalawar today.
While making it clear that she is not retiring as is being speculated in the media, she told reporters in Jhalawar: “I want to make it clear that the media just clings to one word. Jhalawar and its people are like my family. I speak to them as I speak with my family. All my utterances do not have any political connotation. I had spoken of my retirement yesterday because I felt very happy and was surprised to hear my son interact with the people here. I was also moved after seeing the reaction of the people here. After all, I am his mother. At the same time I want to make it clear I am not going anywhere and not retiring anytime soon. I have just come out after filing my nomination.”
Four-term legislator, Raje would be contesting from Jhalrapatan constituency on November 25.
While addressing a rally in Jhalawar yesterday, Raje had said she felt she could retire now after listening to her MP son Dushyant Singh. Raje had said “Mujhe lag raha hain ab mein retire ho jati hoon (I feel I can retire now).”
After hearing her son speak, she was overwhelmed and said, “After listening to my son today, I feel you people have taught him so well, sometimes with love, sometimes by lecturing him that I do not need to be after him now.
Her remarks created news as she has not been projected as the chief ministerial candidate unlike the last two times. There has been considerable speculation over her role in the state unit as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this time the party’s face was lotus, the party symbol. There have also been many speculations over the number of candidates gunning for the top post. However, Raje’s loyalists have found place in the BJP lists, thus rebuffing some of the rumours of her being sidelined in the party.
Dushyant Singh, 50, is the only son of Raje and is a four-time MP from Jhalawar. He won his first parliamentary elections in 2004 and consequently the next three elections.
According to PRS Legislative Research, PRSIndia website, which assesses the performances of MPs, Dushyant has participated in about 75 debates in the last five years, much higher than the national average of 43. He has asked about 217 questions in the Lok Sabha, higher than the national average of 191 questions. His questions range from paper leak to implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the state.
Dushyant, however, keeps a low profile and is not as eloquent as his sharp-witted and confident mother.
In 2015, he got embroiled in a controversy as he was supposed to have been a beneficiary of some investments from former IPL czar Lalit Modi.