Manvendra Singh
Chitra Singh, the wife of Congress candidate in Jhalrapatan seat Manvendra Singh, has said it would be a tough fight in the home turf of Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje, but expressed confidence that he would emerge victorious.
She has been intensively campaigning along with her husband in urban and rural areas of the constituency, which Raje has represented three times in the state Assembly.
Chitra Singh said she has been going door to door and meeting women, appealing them to channelise their anger against the BJP government by voting for the son of ailing BJP leader Jaswant Singh.
She admitted that it would a tough fight in Jhalrapatan in Jhalawar district but expressed confidence that her husband would win the seat, saying the people were filled with anger against the "mother and the son", apparently referring to Raje and her son, Dushyant Singh.
Chitra Singh said people wanted a change as the land in the area was fertile and favourable for setting up industries but neither were the farmers getting a fair return on their crops, nor were industries being set up.
She claimed the entire area had been left neglected and said if the Congress was voted for power, they would focus on generating employment for youths by setting up industries and promoting agro-industry.
On Manvendra Singh being a new face in the constituency, she said even Raje was a new face when she came here 30 years ago. She claimed the people had realised that despite being under the chief minister, the area was still neglected.
"We were also a new face, five days ago when we first came here, but the people have been giving us a very warm response," Chitra Singh said.
Manvendra Singh, who was a member of the BJP earlier before joining the Congress, said he was seeking to convert the "anger against Raje" into votes for him.
"I am receiving a positive response from the people during the campaign. They are very friendly and angry with the state government," Manvendra Singh told PTI.
"My main strategy to win is to convert the anger among the people against the chief minister into vote in the Congress' favor," he said.
Manvendra Singh had won as a BJP candidate from the Sheo constituency of Barmer district in the 2013 state Assembly polls.
Jaswant Singh was denied ticket by the party in 2014 Lok Sabha elections following which he contested elections as an independent candidate and lost the seat to BJP's Sonaram, who had joined the party from the Congress and was backed by Raje.
The decision of not allowing Jaswant Singh to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls antagonised the Rajput community that held the chief minister responsible for neglecting Jaswant Singh for an "outsider" Sonaram.
There was resentment among his supporters who rallied after Manvendra Singh making it an issue of their 'swabhiman'
Rajasthan Assembly elections are slated for December 7.
A Rajput leader from Jhalrapatan, Nand Singh claimed Manvendra Singh would give a close fight to Raje this time and it was possible that he might win.
He claimed that senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who is the party's Rajput face, had called up senior leaders of the community to persuade them to vote for the party's candidate.
Another Rajput leader said Rajput and Sondhya communities were traditionally a BJP votebank in Jhalrapatan constituency. There were estimated to be 55,000 to 60,000 Sondhya and Rajput voters in the constituency.
A local resident, Raghuraj Singh Hada, said Manvendra Singh is a strong candidate. "Even if he doesn't win, Raje's vote margin will come down," the ex-convenor of INTACH Jhalawar chapter said.
However, a local resident disagreed and highlighted the development works done by Raje.
Bhanwar Lal Thakur said Raje was the unopposed leader in Jhalawar and her loss from the seat was inconceivable as she had built a medical college, a helipad, airport, which would not have been possible without her.
