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Rajasthan election 2023: Husband vs wife, uncles vs nieces poll contest in four seats
Rajasthan will vote in a single phase poll to elect its 200-member assembly on November 25. The counting of votes will take place on December 3.
The upcoming Rajasthan assembly election will witness an interesting contests in four seats. In these constituencies, relatives are contesting against each other.
Rita Chaudhary, a candidate of Haryana-based Jannayak Janta Party is contesting from Sikar's Danta Ramgarh seat. She has been pitted against her husband Virendra Chaudhary, a sitting Congress MLA who has been fielded again by the ruling party.
In the 2018 assembly election, Chaudhary, the son of former state Congress chief Narayan Singh, had defeated his BJP rival by a meagre 920 votes. His wife Rita told PTI that her focus is on issues like women empowerment and drinking water.
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Her family has traditionally been associated with the Congress. In August, Rita Chaudhary joined Dushyant Chautala's JJP and was appointed as the state president of its women's wing.
She had hoped to get a Congress ticket in 2018, but her hopes were dashed after the party chose her husband. Since then, Rita Chaudhary started to strengthened her own base.
“Since I have been active among the people, I am confident that I will win this seat in the elections,” Chaudhary said.
The Dholpur assembly seat is witnessing an interesting contest between two members of a family but there is a twist. Both the contesting candidates have now switched parties.
In the 2018 assembly election, BJP's Shobharani Kushwah won the seat by defeating her brother-in-law Shivcharan Kushwah. The former was expelled by the saffron party last year over cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections.
She joined the Congress and has been fielded by the grand old party on the same seat. Her brother-in-law Shivcharan Kushwah is the BJP candidate.
“Relationships and political contests are altogether different aspects and they have their own place. Therefore, during an election battle, we are candidates of our political parties and not 'saali' and 'jija',” she told PTI.
In Nagaur seat, ex-Congress MP Jyoti Mirdha has been fielded by the BJP against her uncle Harendra Mirdha, who is contesting on a Congress ticket. The seat was won by BJP's Mohan Ram Choudhary who had defeated Habibur Rehman Lamba of the Congress by more than 13,000 votes in 2018 elections.
In Jhunjhunu's Khetri seat, Dharampal Gurjar is contesting as a BJP candidate. His brother Dataram Gurjar's daughter Manisha Gurjar rebelled after denied ticket by the saffron party and joined the Congress. She is now contesting as a Congress candidate against her uncle.
The November 25 elections have 1875 candidates in the fray – 183 women and 1,692 men. The counting of votes will be held on December 3.
(With PTI inputs)
