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The situation for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan degraded from bad to worse on Sunday with reportedly 30 of legislators offering to quit citing their support for former state chief, Vasundhara Raje. Raje on Saturday had threatened to quit the party over the proposed 'Lok Jagran Yatra' of fellow BJP member, Gulabchand Kataria. Kataria had announced a 28-day tour in the tribal belt of the state. Although Kataria later retracted his tour under pressure from Raje, the MLAs supporting the former state chief gave their resignation after meeting her at her residence in Jaipur on Sunday. They said that Raje had pioneered BJP's stronghold in the state and with the resounding support surrounding her, she was the absolute leader of the party in the state. "This is a very unfortunate condition as Vasundhara Raje took this party to every corner of the state. I can announce that people are looking at her as the next Chief Minister. She is our leader and in her honour, I along with other members of the party have submitted our resignation," said Rohtas Kumar, a BJP legislator. Kataria, however, said that his allegiance would always remain with BJP and advised the MLAs to stop following the might of an individual and make efforts for the greater good of the party. "Through my decision to cancel my tour the message I gave is a lesson for the all party members and that lesson is that the party is supreme, we are working for the party and not an individual," Kataria told the mediapersons in Udaipur.

Infighting intensifies in Rajasthan BJP, MLAs offer to quit