Jaipur: Rajasthan is known to be a state of royalty and pride and even after 75 years of the country's independence and a deep-rooted democracy, the attraction towards these families is almost the same as it was in the past.
This is the reason why members of former royal families are now trying their hand at politics and reaching the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha.
This time except for Jodhpur, members of all the big former royal families of Rajasthan are seen coming out of their palaces with folded hands to seek the vote of the common man. These include the royal families of Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota, Bikaner, Dholpur and Bharatpur.
Royal families' active involvement in politics
However, in Rajasthan, the royal family has been active in politics since independence. Many royal families of Rajasthan were active in the Swatantra Party formed after independence, Gayatri Devi, the Rajmata of the former royal family of Jaipur had been an MP from the same party in 1962 and 1967, so it is not that this is happening for the first time, but now more former royals are looking keen to join politics, like, after a long time, the Udaipur royal family once again entered politics with Vishvraj Singh has been given a ticket by BJP from Nathdwara a famous religious town near Udaipur.
Although, the royal family of Jodhpur is away from this election, during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Jodhpur, a photo of former Maharaja of Jodhpur Gaj Singh meeting Modi at the airport went viral.
Five out of six former royals in the election fray in Rajasthan are already in politics. This time again they are trying their luck and some of them are caught in a very interesting contest.
Vasundhara Raje: A member of the royal family of Dhoulpur is contesting from the Jhalrapatan seat of the Jhalawar district for the fifth time. She has never faced any big challenges from other parties. This time Congress has fielded Ramlal Chauhan against him and this time there seems no major challenge for her.
Siddhikumari: The, daughter of the former royal family of Bikaner is also contesting from Bikaner East seat as BJP candidate for the fourth time. She has won this seat three times consecutively. Congress has to field a new candidate against her every time. This time Yashpal Gehlot has been fielded and an interesting contest is expected here as her victory margin had come to 7000 from 30000 in the last election.
Diya Kumari: The daughter of the royal family of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, had been a BJP MLA from Sawai Madhopur and is currently an MP from the Rajsamand seat. For the first time, the party has fielded her from his hometown, the Vidyadhar Nagar seat of Jaipur. The Congress has fielded the State Treasurer of the party Sitaram Agarwal, who was a candidate from here last time too, but lost. Diya Kumari has proved her metal by winning elections from two different seats but her opponent Agarwal has also been active here for a long time, so the contest can be interesting.
Kalpana Raje: The wife of former Maharaja Ijye Raj Singh who is of the royal family of Kota. Ijye Raj Singh was a Congress MP from Kota but later joined the BJP and his wife Kalpana Raje is trying her luck from the Ladpura seat of Kota for the second time in this election. Last time he had defeated Gulnaz of Congress by 21 thousand votes. This time Congress has once again fielded a Muslim candidate Naimuddin Gaddu and a BJP rebel Bhavani Singh Rajawat is also in the fray so a triangular fight is likely there on this seat.
Vishwaraj Singh: A member of the Udaipur royal family, is a descendant of Maharana Pratap and is contesting the election for the first time. His father Mahendra Singh Mewar was in politics. The BJP has fielded him from Nathdwara's seat where a senior Congress leader and the Speaker of the Rajasthan assembly CP Joshi is contesting against him, so. A close contest is likely on the seat.
Vishvendra Singh: A member of the royal family of Bharatpur is currently the Tourism Minister in the Government of Rajasthan. He has been MLA twice and is trying his luck from Deeg-Kumher's seat for the third consecutive time. For the second time in a row, he is facing BJP's Dr. Shailesh Singh, son of former minister Dr. Digambar Singh. In such a situation, the contest is likely to be interesting.
