Kalpana Devi who has been fielded by BJP in place of Rajawat is a member of erstwhile royal family of Kota and wife of former Kota MP Ijyeraj Singh.
It's an interesting fight between "Maharani" and "Bhabhi" in Kota's Ladpura constituency this time. With three-time MLA from here, Bhawani Singh Rajawat, keeping away from Kota after being denied ticket to contest the polls, the field has been left open to two women candidates whose claim to fame is the political legacy of their husbands.
Kalpana Devi who has been fielded by BJP in place of Rajawat is a member of erstwhile royal family of Kota and wife of former Kota MP Ijyaraj Singh. Ijeyraj was elected a parliamentarian from Kota on a Congress ticket. The switch by husband-wife duo from the Congress to BJP has been difficult to gulp down by workers of both the parties.
Locals informed they could never think that "Maharaj Kumar" ( Ijyaraj Singh) would join the BJP. Even The Congress workers are disappointed here. A few weeks back when Congress President Rahul Gandhi was in Kota, he had stayed at one of the properties of the former royal family. "Rahul Gandhi is believed to be close to the former Kota MP. Don't know, how and why he walked into the BJP camp," a Congress office bearer in Kota said.
Kalpana Devi has built her team and has been campaigning with them throughout the day. She doesn't come across a political greenhorn and seems to have stepped away from the shadow of her husband Ijeyraj Singh.
Her public meetings are short and barely last 5 minutes. The stress is more on door-to-door campaign and meeting locals at their home in this constituency. Being a member of former royal family seems to be influencing people, if not for the political quest, for the curiosity quotient the crown of the queen carries. While many locals claim that if she wins, meeting her would be difficult but contesting on BJP ticket seems to be in her favour. She greets the women with warmth and affection, holding their hands in hers and inquiring about them. In the narrow by-lanes of Ladpura, her little gestures are working wonders for her where the common man on the street is able to meet someone with royal lineage so close.
Contrary to her campaigning, Gulnaz Bhabhi is projecting herself as the common man who is facing the royalty in the elections. Unlike the floral chiffons and the demure dressing of the erstwhile queen, a simply dressed Gulnaaz is banking on the anti-incumbency of last 15 years in the constituency. People know her as wife of Naimuddin Guddo, a local Congress leader who failed to defeat BJP's sitting legislator Bhawani Singh Rajawat, twice. Locals claim that Guddoo has remained with the people helping them out in spite of his defeats.
Like her opponent, Gulnaz Bano is also going about a door-to-door campaign. She introduces herself to people as Guddoo's wife and in instantly recognized as bhabhiji (sister-in-law). Her smile, at the recognition, is a precious one, for she knows it pits her as the commoner fighting the queen. Gulnaz Bano has an unruffled appeal about her. She goes about her neighbourhood like it is her home. It's the other way round here. Most people greet her with warmth and ask her to sit with them for a while. She excuses herself and keeps walking around the vicinity seeking to capitalize on the anti-incumbency factor against the ruling party legislator.
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 "Kalpana Ijyaraj Singh, Gulnaz Bano")
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