Jaipur: It’s going to be a sporty fight for the Jaipur Rural seat in the Lok Sabha elections as Congress has fielded Commonwealth gold medallist Krishna Poonia against shooter and Olympics medallist Colonel Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore, the Minister of State for I&B and Sports.
The Jaipur Rural seat has suddenly become a hot seat attracting the country’s attention as it would witness “polimpics”. Poonia is a Congress legislator and the party has fielded her to challenge the might of the shooter with the disc.
Poonia, who won a gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, has participated in three olympics and is also a receipient of the Padma Shri. Rathore, who won a silver winner at the 2004 Athens Olympics, won golds at the Commonwealth Games at Manchester (2002) and Melbourne (2006). Between 2002 and 2006, he won 25 international medals at various championships.
Poonia had no clues that the Congress party has nominated her for the Jaipur rural seat and she could know about it only past midnight on Monday from the media. “I am thankful to the party for nominating me and I hope to win the seat as the women are overwhelmingly going to vote for me. As the party made an exception in my case, I have a great challenge ahead and prove that my leaders were not wrong,” said Poonia.
Col Rajyavrdhan Singh in 2014 was fielded from Jaipur rural seat at the instance of the former CM Vasundhara Raje, where he defeated the then Union minister CP Joshi by over 3.5 lakh votes. “ I have been a soldier and a sportsman and I nursed my constituency well. It’s another challenge for me but the people in my constituency will recognize my work and would vote for my work” said Rathor.
