Six royal family members from BJP and Congress in Rajasthan poll arena

In their manifestos, the two main parties in the contest – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress – catered to a wide range of economic groups

Jaipur: “Mai thansu dur nahi” (I am not far from you)– the most popular slogan of Jodhpur’s 28-year-old King Hanwant Singh Rathore, won the hearts of the people across the Marwar in 1952, leading his new political party Akhil Bharatiya Ramrajya Parishad swiping around 30 out of 33 seats in the region in the very first state assembly poll post-independence.

(Representative Photo)

In the same year, the King of Bikaner, Karni Singh Bahadur, also stepped into the Parliament, winning the Bikaner constituency as an independent candidate.

Cooch Behar’s princess of the Narayan dynasty and the queen of Jaipur Gayatri Devi, in 1962, also contested in the Lok Sabha election as a candidate of the Swatantra Party and remained a three-time MP from the seat.

Despite the royal families losing their ruling rights after the independence, Rajasthan– which has always been synonymous with the valourous tales of the blue blood in history– continued being strongly influenced by the erstwhile kings and queens in the modern democratic era.

According to a member of the Rajput organisation Pratap Foundation, Mahaveer Singh Sarvadi, “The association of the members of around 18 royal families of the state with the major political parties has always played a crucial role in the poll arena as most of them remained successful in building a pro-people image in society irrespective of any caste and community.”

“People yet view the royal family members with high esteem and believe that the kings and queens are the only ones who would listen to their demands and put the best effort to fulfil them. They can shelter them. This is such a comprehensive image, which is always the key to the success of the royal families in the political ambit,” he said.

While Bahadur, Rathore, and Gayatri Devi paved the way for the royal clans in the political ambit post-independence, their descendants, such as Vasundhara Raje, Siddhi Kumari, Diya Kumari, and many others, kept on carrying the legacy.

Like every election, the political parties in Rajasthan have pitted around six members of the royal families in the upcoming state assembly poll due on November 25- of whom five were fielded by the BJP and one by the Congress. Here is a listicle.

Vasundhara Raje: A member of Dholpur royal family

Raje– the two-time former chief minister of the state, hails from Gwalior’s Scindia royal family and was married to King Hemant Singh of Rajasthan’s Dholpur royal family. Raje’s mother Vijaya Raje Scindia was also the founder-member of the Jan Sangh, which was the parent party of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Raje contested her first assembly poll from Dholpur in 1985, which she won with 30% votes, defeating Congress’s Banwari Lal. But she lost to him in 1993 when the party fielded her again from the seat. Since 2003, Raje became an unbeatable contestant of the BJP after she was fielded from Jhalawar’s Jhalrapatan– a seat where Congress won five times while the BJP bagged it thrice till her entry.

Since 2003, Raje remained a four-time MLA from the seat and also became a two-time chief minister during the course.

The present national vice president of the BJP and the five-time MP Raje also served as a union minister in the cabinet of the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998.

Despite the talk of Raje being sidelined in the party in the last few years, she remained BJP’s first choice from the seat in the very first list to retain its stronghold. Congress has meanwhile fielded a fresh face Ral Lal Chauhan against Raje this time.

Diya Kumari: Princess of Jaipur royal family

Being the daughter of Gayatri Devi’s foster son Sawai Bhawani Singh, Diya Kumari stepped into Rajasthan’s political arena 10 years ago and remained an MLA from Sawai Madhopur in 2013 and, also an MP from Rajsamand in 2019.

Kumari– who has been calling herself ‘Jaipur ki Beti’ (daughter of Jaipur) during her campaigns this election, however, will face the poll battle for the first time from a prime seat in Jaipur’s Vidhyadhar Nagar. She was one of those seven MPs of the BJP who were fielded in the 2023 poll in the very first list in October.

Vidhyadhar Nagar constituency – which came into existence following the 2008 delimitation – has always been a stronghold of the BJP, with Narpat Singh Rajavi, the son-in-law of former chief minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, winning the seat in all three elections. However, Kumari replaced him this time, while Rajavi was again fielded from Chittorgarh after 2003.

Congress, meanwhile, has fielded the businessman Sitaram Agrawal, who contested the poll in 2018 as well from the seat but lost to Rajavi.

Sushri Siddhi Kumari: Princess of Bikaner royal family

The granddaughter of the former MP Maharaja Karni Singh Bahadur, Siddhi Kumari, remained a three-time BJP MLA from the Bikaner East seat since 2008 when the constituency came into existence through delimitation.

In 2018, Siddhi won the seat defeating, Congress’s Kanhaiya Jhanwar at a mere 3% votes. However, Congress, meanwhile, has fielded the party’s veteran leader Yashpal Gehlot against her, hoping to break the trend.

Kalpana Devi: Queen of Kota royal family

Kalpana Devi, the wife of the Maharao Ijya Raj Singh, is the incumbent BJP MLA of Kota’s Ladpura seat from where she contested her first election in 2018 and won with around 53% votes, defeating Congress’s Gulanaz Guddu.

Her husband, Ijyaraj, also remained an MP from Kota in 2009, winning as a Congress candidate, but later joined the BJP when the party denied her a ticket in the state assembly poll in 2018.

Congress, however, has fielded Gulnaz’s husband and, also a secretary of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee Naimuddin Guddu against Kalpana this time.

Kunwar Vishvaraj Singh Mewar: Prince of Udaipur royal family

The descendant of the well-known Rajput warrior king Maharana Pratap, Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, joined the BJP on October 17 in the presence of the party president Chandra Prakash Joshi and Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari at Delhi.

With a hope to dent the Congress’s stronghold in Rajsamand’s Nathadwara using the link of Udaipur’s royal family in the entire Mewar region, Vishvaraj, whose father Mahendra Singh Mewar also remained a BJP MP from Chittorgarh in 1989, is all set to contest his first election from the seat against the state assembly speaker and the five-time Congress MLA C P Joshi.

Vishvendra Singh: King of Bharatpur royal family

The son of the last ruler of Bharatpur– Brijendra Singh, Vishvendra remained a three-time BJP MP and a two-time union minister in 1999 and 2004.

The Bharatpur king, who contested his first assembly election from the separated Kumher seat with a BJP ticket in 1998 but lost to Congress’s Hari Singh at only 945 votes, joined Congress in 2008 due to a conflict with his BJP colleague Digamber Singh.

Vishvendra was again fielded by Congress in the state assembly poll in 2008 from the new Deeg-Kumher seat that came into existence following the 2008 delimitation.

Though he lost the poll battle as a Congress candidate against Digamber, he ensured the seat for his party in consecutive next two elections in 2013 and 2018, following which he was appointed as the civil aviation minister in chief minister Shok Gehlot’s cabinet.

BJP, meanwhile, has fielded Dr Shailesh Singh again from the Deeg-Kumher seat, who lost to Vishvendra in 2018 with a margin of 5% votes.

Sociologist Rajeev Gupta, commenting on the influence of the royal families on the masses, said, “The royal members are winning because of their presentability and the structure of the parties. Fielding them in the elections by the parties denies the hard work of the ground workers which is very disappointing. The Kings and Queens have barely any association with the masses. The political parties have taken the people for granted. Are they trying to revive the feudal system by appeasing these royal members who have almost no value today?”