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Rajasthan assembly polls: BJP ropes in Kota royals, fields former Congress MP’s wife from Ladpura
Kalpana Raje, wife of former Congress MP Ijyaraj Singh, has joined the BJP and will contest the Rajasthan assembly polls from Ladpur seat in Kota district.
Former Congress MP and ex-royal Ijyaraj Singh and his wife Kalpana Raje joined the BJP in Kota on Monday in the presence of chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
Kalpana was denied a Congress ticket from the Ladpura assembly constituency in Kota district. The BJP fielded Kalpana from Ladpura.
The BJP roped in the scion of Kota royal family and his wife after the Congress pitted former union minister Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra Singh against Vasundhara Raje in Jhalarapatan for the December 7 assembly elections in Rajasthan. Manvendra is an ex-royal from Barmer.
Read more: Rajasthan assembly polls 2018: Denied tickets, rebels look to derail plans of BJP, Congress
Political analyst Madan Madir called the Kota ex-royals’ joining the BJP a major political development in the Hadoti region. Ijyaraj was a Congress MP from the Kota-Bundi parliamentary constituency. Kota ex-royals have influence over the parliamentary constituency, which has 8 assembly seats including Ladpura, Madir said.
“The inclusion of Ijyaraj and Kalpana in the BJP is not only a setback for the Congress but will also impact the internal BJP politics in Kota,” he said. “Kalpana Raje is contesting assembly polls from Ladpura. Ijyaraj will stake claim for a BJP ticket from the Kota parliamentary constituency. This could upset the political fortunes of sitting BJP MP Om Birla and local leaders of Kota.”
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Ijyaraj and Kalpana joined the BJP at their royal residence, Brijraj Bhawan. Welcoming them, Raje said Ijyaraj and his wife are like her family members. “We were pained to see Ijyaraj in a rival party. His inclusion in the BJP has not only pleased me but also strengthened the party,” Raje said.
“Ex-royals of Kota are like a family for me. I consider Ijyaraj Singh as my son, no different from Jhalawar Member of Parliament Dushyant Singh,” she said. “I have now got two leaders in the party -- Ijyaraj Singh and Kalpana.”
Thanking Raje and the BJP, Ijyaraj said, “We will serve the region and facilitate development of the area.” Kalpana urged party workers to ensure her victory with a high margin of votes. She faces Gulnaaz, wife of Congress leader Naimuddin Guddu, in Ladpura.
Ijyaraj’s father Brijraj Singh had also changed parties; he was a Member of Parliament from the Congress and the Bharatiya Kranti Dal.
The BJP has also given another setback to the Congress by fielding Mamta Sharma from Pipalda constituency in Kota. Sharma was a former Congress MLA from Bundi and a former chairperson of the National Women’s Commission. Mamta’s father-in-law Brijsundar Sharma was a Congress minister.
Asked about party-hoppers in assembly polls, Madir said, “There is no ideology in politics now; everyone wants to grab power by hook or crook.”
