Rajsamand MP denied ticket, BJP picks former royal Diya Kumari for 2019 Lok Sabha elections - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Rajsamand MP denied ticket, BJP picks former royal Diya Kumari for 2019 Lok Sabha elections

Hindustan Times, Jaipur | By, Jaipur
Apr 17, 2019 03:52 PM IST

Hariom Singh Rathore, who was a zila pramukh from 1995 to 2000, had contested Lok Sabha polls for the first time. The BJP has replaced him with Diya Kumari in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Hariom Singh Rathore of the BJP won from the Rajsamand Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 general elections, defeating Congress’s Gopal Singh Shekhawat.

Hariom Singh Rathore, BJP’s Rajsamand MP, has not been nominated by the party for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.(HT Photo)
Hariom Singh Rathore, BJP’s Rajsamand MP, has not been nominated by the party for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.(HT Photo)

Rathore, who was a zila pramukh from 1995 to 2000, had contested Lok Sabha polls for the first time. In 2014, the BJP won from all the 25 parliamentary constituencies in Rajasthan.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The BJP has, however, changed its candidate for Rajsamand for the coming Lok Sabha polls. The party has fielded Diya Kumari, a former MLA from Sawai Madhopur and a member of erstwhile royal family, from Rajsamand. She is pitted against Congress’s Devkinandan Gurjar.

Though he was denied ticket, Rathore claims to have worked for the development of Rajsamand. “I have done a lot of development works in my constituency, be it improving roads, supplying water, or building public toilets or classrooms. I have got 519 works done by spending 26.43 crore from my MPLAD funds along with the previous balance.”

He said he got a budget of 1,597 crore approved in 2017-18 for gauge conversion between Mawli and Marwar railway stations. “The work will start soon.” Rathore said the Pushkar-Merta rail line was sanctioned because of his initiatives.

 

Rathore’s attendance in parliament was 82%, while the national average was 80% and state average 88%. He took part in 61 debates and asked 243 questions.

The Rajsamand constituency of the Mewar region has eight assembly segments -- Beawar, Merta, Degana, Jaitaran, Bhim, Kumbhalgarh, Rajsamand and Nathdwara. The Lok Sabha seat was formed in 2008 after the delimitation. Before delimitation, Rajsamand was part of the Udaipur Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2009 general elections, the Congress won the seat.

In the December 2018 assembly elections, the BJP won four assembly seats under the Rajsamand LS constituency; Congress won three and the Rashtriya Loktantrik one. In 2013 assembly elections, the BJP had won all the eight assembly seats. BJP leaders said the party’s performance in the 2018 assembly polls could be a reason for denying ticket to Rathore.

Congress candidate Devkinandan Gurjar had contested assembly elections in 2013 from Nathdwara on a party ticket, but lost to BJP’s Kalyan Singh Chauhan. Gurjar said, “Rathore has been a failure in Rajasamand in his five-year term.”

He added, “Hariom Singh Rathore had promised to bring pipeline water to villages of Rajsamand, but nothing has happened. There are no roads in villages and above all, gauge conversion between Mawli and Marwar is yet to take place.” He alleged that the BJP MP did not meet people in villages his five-year tenure and that there has been little development in the constituency.

Read | Lok Sabha 2019 constituency: Rajsamand has seen BJP and Congress rule after delimitation

Watch an interesting conversation with Indian politician & former Union Minister of State, Milind Deora. HT’s senior journalist Kumkum Chadha talks to him about his life in politics & beyond. Watch Now!
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On