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Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018: Meet the politicians who are cut from a different cloth

A different breed: Where leaders are switching parties & turning rebels, there are some who look at the bigger picture

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Diya Kumari, MLA Sawai Madhopur, Rajiv Arora, vice-president, PCC
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In the run-up to the elections examples of disappointments and betrayals are scattered everywhere. From cabinet minister Surendra Goyal contesting as an Independent when denied a ticket to former legislator Mamta Sharma switching from Congress to BJP at the eleventh hour to stay in the electoral race, the many versions of quick-fix politics and opportunism abound in Rajasthan.

But far from the madding clamour for a slice of the political pie are individuals who have held their ground despite being denied a ticket by their respective parties. These cases are few and far between, but make up for a whole new breed of politicians who not only toe the party line but are also working for those very constituents who they represent or wished to in the upcoming polls.

One of the biggest surprises in the ticket distribution this time was the Congress dropping Its Pradesh Congress Committee Vice President Rajiv Arora from the list of candidates. Arora has been seeking a ticket to contest the Adarsh Nagar seat in Jaipur city, which former BJP president Ashok Parnami is representing as the elected legislator. Arora was being considered a finalist on the seat, but was trumped by a rookie Riyaz Khan in a surprise decision by the Congress. Sources in the party said, the decision to drop him was a last-moment move as Sachin Pilot, the PCC chief, was fielded from Tonk, a seat that the minority community voters were wanting to represent.

But, with the elections closing in, party bigwigs have started lining up at Arora’s residence to get him to canvass in the very seat where he was not given a ticket.

Party honcho Ahmed Patel who has the ears of Sonia Gandhi, and Rajiv Shukla visited Arora and held talks with him on the prospects of the party in JAIPUR city. Arora had declined to campaign in Adarsh Nagar and Malviya Nagar constituencies. When contacted, he said, “I had said no to canvassing in these constituencies earlier. But senior leaders of the party, including Ahmad Patel, have asked me to help the party cover more ground in all eight constituencies of the city. I couldn’t refuse them. I am now going to campaign for all Congress candidates in city.”

Like Arora, sitting BJP legislator from the erstwhile family of Jaipur, Diya Kumari was a surprise exclusion from the BJP list of candidates. Diya Kumari had upset the applecart of tribal leader Kirori Lal Meena, who fought as a rebel against the party in last elections, by pulling off an unthinkable win in the Sawai Madhopur constituency which is more popular for the tigers that inhabit its Ranthambhore forests.

Diya Kumari has, like Arora, held her ground and toed the party line. She has categorically dismissed reports of her falling out with chief minister Vasundhara Raje. To a question on whether their relationship was under strained, the former princess of Jaipur asked the reporters sarcastically, “She (Raje) was the one who got me into politics. I became a legislator because of her. These reports hold no water.”

Diya Kumari has since gone one step further to dismiss the reports of her being muffed with the party for being denied a ticket as political bunkum. She chose to hit the roads again, this time not for herself, but for the BJP candidate who has been given the ticket instead of her.

Bina Kak, another stalwart, didn’t feature in the Congress list this time. She has been a cabinet minister in both governments led by Ashok Gehlot in state and has represented Sumerpur constituency which she lost last time. Sources said she was, like Arora, seeking to represent Adarsh Nagar constituency this time but didn’t get a ticket. 

Kak took to social media to thank the party for the Trust it has shown in her all these years. She said she was urged to contest as an Independent, but she would never do so. “My supporters were very unhappy when I was denied ticket. They wanted me to fight as independent but I said no. Congress has given me 35 years. They made me minister every time. They gave me so much honour I really can’t do that,” Kak said.

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