Second string in Rajasthan's quintet: Raje stares at an uncertain future

The straws in the wind have not been favourable for Vasundhara Raje. The BJP high command has signalled that she may not be the lead actor but play a supporting role

Vasundhara Raje, who has twice led a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan as chief minister (CM), now finds herself at a crossroads that could lead her into a political cul-de-sac or offer a temporary reprieve, depending on the BJP’s central leadership’s decision to position her front and centre in the state elections this year.

A question mark looms over Raje’s potential role as the first among equals or merely an equal among a line-up that includes central ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Ashwini Vaishnaw, as well as Satish Poonia, the former state BJP chief, and