Loyalists rally behind Vasundhara Raje, demand she be made BJP's CM face

An early sign of unrest in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Rajasthan unit was spotted in December 2020. The cheerleaders of Vasundhara Raje banded and floated an eponymous Samartak Manch (support front), raising a single demand: She be declared the Rajasthan chief ministerial candidate, although the state elections are only in 2023. She’s currently a national vice-president in the BJP and holds an office traditionally regarded as “ornamental”, unlike the post of general secretary.  

Tactically, no legislator or prominent functionary lent his/her name to the outfit for fear of drawing the high command’s instant notice. Instead, it called itself “non-political” —