Raje's resignation can wait: Naidu

Having failed to make former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje quit as leader of the opposition accepting its diktat, the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership said on  "her resignation can wait". M Venkaiah Naidu, BJP pointsman for talking to Raje on the issue and deal with her demands before she accedes to the party demand, evaded a question on the fate of the Rajasthan leader saying there were other pressing issues occupying the central leadership's attention at the moment.

"Her resignation can wait.....The people are preoccupied with relief and rehabilitation (of flood-affected people from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka). Secondly, there are assembly elections" (in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh), Naidu said. When told that these had nothing to do with Raje stepping down from her post, he did not give a direct reply. "This is not an issue. We are pre-occupied with elections....and issues of public interest. When we have time we can discuss it....The BJP is still there...don't worry. We will discuss it," he said, adding "we are now concerned with people who are suffering. That is the main issue." Raje had earlier said she was a disciplined member of the party. Her delay in resigining had led party chief Rajnath Singh to say that no deadline had been fixed for her to step down.

Though Raje has demonstrated that she has the support of a majority of BJP MLAs in Rajasthan assembly, the central leadership asked her to resign holding her responsible for the party's debacle in Lok Sabha and state assembly polls. She had however been defiant and sent MLAs supporting her to Delhi to ask the central leadership to revoke the order asking her to resign. When she refused to relent, Naidu was appointed as the pointsman to deal with the issue and look into her demands. Though she came to Delhi when Naidu called her to discuss the matter, she sent in a word through her son and MP Dushyant Singh that she is unwell and cannot meet. Last week, she had called on senior leader L K Advani to discuss the matter. Now, BJP has decided to wait till the assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh are over.