Awarding governorships to senior BJP leaders in Rajasthan may hint at their subtle sidelining

Om Prakash Mathur, 72, the national vice-president of BJP and a two-time Rajya Sabha member has been appointed as the Governor of Sikkim, relegating him to the background and away from Rajasthan politics.

Jaipur: With the appointment of Rajasthan's senior leaders as Governors, the general perception is that principal figureheads, who could possibly emerge as power centres in the state's politics, are being of sidelined, say political analysts.

Om Prakash Mathur, 72, the national vice-president of BJP and a two-time Rajya Sabha member has been appointed as the Governor of Sikkim. A one-time state president (2008-2009), his name was said to be in contention for the top post before the party zeroed in on the little-known Bhajanlal Sharma.

Close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, he was general secretary in-charge of Gujarat in the period between 2002 to 2008. He has also overseen the states of Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and is said to have played a key role in BJP’s win in Chattisgarh last year.

A master strategist and an organisational man, Mathur is from the RSS background and from Pali district’s Falna region. Incidentally BJP’s newly appointed state president Madan Rathore also hails from Pali district

His appointment to the post of Governor and that too of Sikkim means relegating him to the background and away from the politics of the desert state.

He has reportedly said that he will retire from active politics once he assumes the Constitutional post. “It is an indication that by sidelining senior leaders like Mathur, Gulab Chand Kataria and Vasundhara Raje, the BJP top brass is removing any obstacles or emerging power centres from the path of novice Sharma. Secondly, through these appointments, BJP wants to demonstrate that it takes care of its senior leaders and does not cast them aside,” Narayan Bareth, senior political analyst, told Deccan Herald.

Gulab Chand Kataria, 79, who is one of most influential leaders in Udaipur region in southern Rajasthan, and currently the Governor of Assam, has been named as the next Governor of Punjab now.

For Kataria, who has held important portfolios like the state home minister during Raje’s tenure in Rajasthan, being in Assam felt little too far removed. Kataria, who also subtly competed for the top post when Raje was at the helm, is therefore slowly being sidelined and relegated to the role of a mentor.

He often visited his home state from Assam and a chance meeting with Raje before the Assembly elections had sparked off many rumours. His tenure in Punjab is not going to be easy with AAP in power. The only consolation is perhaps Punjab is not so far away from Rajasthan.

Raje, a two-time chief minister, and one who gave BJP its biggest victories in the state, has been keeping herself off the radar.

She, however, campaigned for her son Dushyant Singh during the Lok Sabha elections, confining herself mostly in their Jhalawar-Baran bastion, and not venturing out for other candidates.

It seems that Raje, 71, has not been offered anything concrete as yet although her marginalisation from active politics is quite apparent. Raje, who has mostly been silent, however, had sent out a message when she had said “Today people want to cut off the finger which they once held to learn to walk.”

Former leader of Opposition, Rajendra Rathore, 69, has been in the wilderness since he lost his Assembly seat in Taranagar. He was expected to be given a Lok Sabha ticket or a Rajya Sabha seat, both of which have eluded him till now.

Former state president Satish Poonia, who was expecting a Lok Sabha berth after losing his Assembly seat, has been made incharge of Haryana, giving him a 'consolation prize' of sorts in terms of leadership.

However, some political observers say BJP takes care of its leaders and workers, giving the most important example of CM Sharma and now state president Madan Rathore.