Victory comes with added responsibilities, Raje says

JAIPUR: She waited until the actual picture emerged. Once the party romped home in style, chief minister Vasundhara Raje started for Jaipur from to lead the ongoing celebrations along with elated party workers.
Raje was camping in Delhi for the past two days, meeting with senior leaders and a few ministers to discuss state-related issues. However, results of the local body polls were out by noon, which reaffirmed BJP’s supremacy in Rajasthan as the Congress was trounced with some miniscule exceptions like Barmer and parts of Shekhawati.
The second time chief minister Raje returned to Jaipur and received a warm welcome at the airport. From there, she went straight to the party head office and addressed the waiting party workers including the newly elected corporators.
“This victory belongs to you all (party workers). Go and celebrate. Enjoy the triumphant moment of the family (read BJP),” said Raje, while addressing the party workers. She asked them to return with the pledge to work harder and live up to the expectations of the people. “These victories come with added responsibility, you all need to pull your sleeves and ensure that people’s expectations are heeded with,” she said.
Raje had special mention of the senior leaders including home minister Gulab Chand Kataria and state BJP president Ashok Parnami and attributed the victory to the hard work of the two leaders. “I salute both the leaders at the way they took decisions,” she said.
The chief minister reiterated that the Modi magic was still intact as the BJP continues with the winning streak thanks to Prime Minister’s charismatic leadership. “He (Narendra Modi) has given a new height to the party. We are winning elections at every tier, thanks to Centre’s policies and the way of functioning,” she said. She exhorted the party workers to work towards the clean India campaign that will strengthen the mission launched by the Prime Minister.
After the setback in the recent assembly bypolls, victory in the local body polls has given a much needed relief to Raje. The party’s win will silence Raje adversaries, who were waiting for another reversal to question chief minister’s leadership. In the recent past, Raje has tactically relegated her adversaries within the party including the likes of Ghanshyam Tiwari, whose supporters were ignored at large during local body polls. There were speculations that dissenting Tiwari could hamper the BJP prospects. However, BJP sweeping the polls under Raje leadership has reinstated her as the undisputed leader of the party in Rajasthan.