New Delhi, Oct. 23: As the royal quit, she took a leaf out of the sadhvi’s book.

BJP sources said that when Uma Bharti was shown the door in 2005 for “challenging” the leadership, she had wondered aloud if she was being “punished” because she was from a backward class.

Today, Vasundhara Raje resigned as leader of the BJP legislature party in Rajasthan under pressure, alleging she was “humiliated” because she was a woman, sources said.

It wasn’t clear where Raje made the allegation although she wrote a letter to Rajnath Singh and sent a copy to L.K. Advani, to which she appended a note taking pot shots at the party president without naming him.

Later in the evening, Raje met former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee along with her son and MP Dushyant, PTI reported.

The agency quoted her as saying: “I have sent the letter to all 11 members (of the party parliamentary board) because they were the ones who have taken the decision (on her resignation). I have written to them respectfully.”

She refused to reveal the contents but sources close to her said the letter accused the party high command of “humiliating” her by dealing with her through the media. She also allegedly wrote the BJP didn’t practise democracy or accountability, and did not encourage women’s rise, PTI added.

Sources told The Telegraph that Raje was unlikely to be rehabilitated in the central leadership because of her “sustained insubordination”. Earlier, the top brass had seemed inclined to make her a general secretary and even consider her for the Rajya Sabha if there was an opening from Rajasthan.

Today, BJP sources drew a distinction between Raje and former Uttarakhand chief minister B.C. Khanduri. They said that although Khanduri too had taken his time to put in his papers after the Lok Sabha rout despite an “advisory” from Delhi, he didn’t undermine Rajnath’s or anyone else’s standing.

Raje also snubbed Sushma Swaraj, who was tasked to extract her resignation. Raje was to meet Sushma last evening but didn’t.

“I got a message that she was unable to come to my house because of the heavy media presence outside. I was a bit perplexed because the media lands up where there is news. How can I can stop them?” Sushma asked.

She said no date had been fixed for a meeting of the BJP legislature party in Rajasthan to elect a successor to Raje.

Sources said Raje wanted a say in electing her successor. Her acolytes claimed she still commanded the backing of a majority of the BJP’s Rajasthan MLAs, and had asked a couple of them to “lobby” for her till the last.