In some Raj seats, family fights take centre stage

JAIPUR: Blood may be thicker than water but it seems thinner than votes in some Rajasthan constituencies where relatives and former spouses are pitted against each other.
One of them is Danta Ramgarh. It could witness an interesting battle in the November 25 polls with Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), a Haryana-based party led by Dushyant Chautala, declaring Rita Singh as its candidate against her ex-husband and outgoing Congress MLA Virendra Singh.Virendra has been renominated.
Virendra, the son of former PCC chief and seven-time MLA Narayan Singh, has traditionally been with Congress. Rita joined JJP this August and was made state president of its women’s wing.
In 2018, Rita had sought a Congress ticket from Danta Ramgarh but the party picked her husband. The couple are now divorced.
Virendra was nominated in 2018 after his father Narayan opted out. Narayan had won the seat seven times, from 1972 to 2013.
This time, though, the contest is quadrangular as BJP and CPM have also fielded candidates.
In Dholpur, Congress’s Shobharani Kushwah is facing brother-in-law Shiv Charan Singh Kushwah of BJP. Shiv Charan is her sister’s husband. In the 2018 elections, Shobharani had defeated Shiv Charan by over 20,000 votes -- ironically, Shiv Charan was then in Congress and Shobharani in BJP.
Shobharani was expelled from BJP after cross-voting for Congress in the Rajya Sabha elections in 2020. She officially joined Congress at a Priyanka Gandhi rally in Jhunjhunu two weeks ago.
In Jat heartland Nagaur, the fight is within the prominent Mirdha family. Jyoti Mirdha switched to BJP from Congress recently and faces uncle Harendra Mirdha. Congress fielded Harendra in a last-minute surprise after Jyoti left.