Vasundhara Raje finally quit as Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan after a meeting with L K Advani today, packing her letter of resignation with criticism of a range of alleged systemic problems in the BJP.

The resignation marked the end of a nearly-three month stalemate that followed after Raje steadfastly refused to submit to a decision by her party’s Core Group — endorsed subsequently by its Parliamentary Board — to effect a change of leadership in Rajasthan following defeats in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

In her letter, Raje is learnt to have stressed that “internal democracy is fundamental to any political party”, and that she was “hurt when she learnt about the demand for her resignation through the media”. She added that she “would have quit immediately had she been informed about this in person”.

“Women leaders,” she said, “should be encouraged in the party”, and lamented that “there were leaders who had worked against the party’s interests when she was leading the party campaign in the state”.

Raje has made the point that “the principle of accountability has not been applied in other cases of election debacle”, and asked the party to do “an honest introspection” following the losses in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunchal Pradesh, instead of the “all-too-familiar tactic of looking for scapegoats”.

Raje has, however, asserted that she was resigning “unconditionally”, and that she remained “a loyal and committed worker of the party”.

A member of the BJP Parliamentary Board said the former chief minister has raised a “host of issues afflicting the party”, and invoked “her mother, the late Vijayaraje Scindia, and her seminal contribution towards building the party”.

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