RUN-UP TO 2019: Congress hopes to use Manvendra Singh to wean away Rajputs from BJP

The Congress is planning to capitalise on the Manvendra factor to wean away the Rajputs from BJP. The Congress is looking to wrest BJP’s loyal voters in Barmer, Jaisalmer and Jalore districts by offering Manvendra Singh select seats to field Rajput candidates, sources said. Sources said Singh, has staked claim on at least five seats in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Jalore districts.

Pachpadra assembly constituency in Barmer, where Manvendra had held his Swabimaan Rally and declared his separation from BJP, is one of the seats he has sought. “Since he is planning on contesting the general elections, he is planning to field his wife Chitra Singh on a Congress ticket,” a Congress district official said.

Chitra Singh had spearheaded his campaign against chief minister Vasundhara Raje and had launched a door-to-door campaign in Barmer and Jaisalmer against the ruling BJP government for sidelining the Rajput community. 

If the BJP fields sitting MP Colonel Sonaram in a Barmer assembly constituency, the Congress is willing to foot a Rajput candidate of Manvendra’s choice to counter him. In Jaisalmer, for instance, the Congress can give ticket to the royal family member Rajrajeshwari.