Sanjay Joshi confidant Raiji resigns from BJP

VADODARA: Old BJP hand at organizational matters and the man who used to call shots in the party’s affairs in parts of central

Gujarat

at one time, Jitendra Rai, resigned from the party. Rai had tendered his resignation on Monday, but went public with it only on Thursday through a Facebook post.

Rai, who learnt his organizational skills with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), joined the BJP in 1996. He was made organization secretary of the party in the city unit initially, but later had the charge of Panchmahal, Vadodara (including Chhota Udepur) and Dahod districts.

The resignation letter that he submitted at the state BJP headquarters states that he was ending the bond with the BJP. It states that he wished to be freed as a primary and active member. The letter states that he chose not to use the word resignation as he was not a worker eyeing polls.

In a clear reference to being ignored by the party, another emotional post along with the resignation letter states that since several years he was being asked why was this happening with him. “Since the last 10 years, I used to laugh in the day every day and sleep crying every night,” Rai stated. “I have decided to cry a lot once,” he added in the post.

A close confidant of former BJP state general secretary Sanjay Joshi, Rai, who was popularly called as

Raiji

in the party, had not been given any responsibility since a decade. But he never parted ways with Joshi who visited Rai’s house during his visits to the city and even met him at the railway station whenever he was passing by.

Rai had gone incommunicado and left his home in the morning after the post. This triggered a lot of rumours till night when he returned home, but avoided interaction with most.