Nepokids: Congress, BJP field 26 scions of old ruling families, political dynasties

JAIPUR: Both the Congress and the BJP, have been accusing each other of nepotism in politics and criticising it time and again. However, despite this public posturing, both the parties have given tickets to family members of their veteran leaders in Rajasthan.

There are about 81 seats in Rajasthan, which are considered to be the strongholds of various leaders. Of these, 40 seats have been pocket boroughs of certain leaders and their families for decades. Between them, the two parties have given 26 tickets to relatives of their senior leaders. This includes 15 sons, six daughters-granddaughters, three wives, one daughter-in-law and one relative of veteran leaders. So far, the BJP has distributed 124 tickets in Rajasthan and the Congress 76. Of these, the BJP gave tickets to 11 candidates and the Congress to 15 candidates whose family members have been MLAs, MPs and Ministers.

The BJP has given a ticket to Vijay Bainsla, son of Kirori Singh Bainsla, former MP candidate from Deoli-Uniara. Next is Diya Kumari from Vidyadhar Nagar who is the granddaughter of former MP Gayatri Devi and comes from the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur.

Siddhi Kumari from Bikaner, whose grandfather Karni Singh was MP from 1952 to 1977, has got a BJP ticket. Jhabar Singh Kharra, the son of Harlal Singh Kharra, the four-time MLA from Shrimadhopur has got a ticket this time from his father’s constituency. Manjeet Chaudhary has got a ticket from Mundawar and he is the son of former MLA Dharampal Chaudhary. Shailesh Singh, son of former Minister Digambarsingh, has got a ticket from Deeg Kumher.

Similarly, Ramswaroop Lamba has got a ticket from Nasirabad. He is the son of former Minister and MP Sanwarlal Jat. Dr. Jyoti Mirdha who is the granddaughter of former MP Nathuram Mirdha will contest from Nagaur on the BJP symbol. Kanhaiyalal Meena will contest from Dhariyawad. He is the son of former Dhariyavad MLA Gautamlal Meena. Deepti Maheshwari will contest from Rajsamand and she is the daughter of former Minister Kiran Maheshwari.

Sumita Bhinchar is the daughter-in-law of Makrana’s former MLA Shriram Bhinchar and will now contest from that seat. Close on the heels of the BJP, the Congress, too, has fielded many leaders with family connections. For instance, Sushila Doody is the wife of former Opposition leader Rameshwar Doody, who will now contest on the Congress symbol from Nokha. Anil Sharma from Sardar Shahar is the son of former MLA Bhawar Lal Sharma while Brajendra Ola is the son of former Union Minister Shishram Ola.

Zuber Khan who has been given a ticket from Ramgarh, is the husband of Congress MLA Safiya Zuber. Manoj Meghwal who has been fielded from Sujangarh is the son of former Minister Bhanwarlal Meghwal while Rita Choudhary is the daughter of Ramnarayan Choudhary, who won from Mandawa six times. Danish Abrar who has got the ticket from Sawai Madhopur, is the son of former Rajya Sabha MP Abrar Ahmed, while Sachin Pilot who will be fighting from Tonk is the son of former Union Minister Rajesh Pilot and former MLA-MP Rama Pilot.

Vijaypal Mirdha fielded from Degana belongs to the Nathuram Mirdha family and is the son of former MLA Richhpal Mirdha. A ticket has also been given to Divya Maderna from Osian. She is the granddaughter of former Assembly Speaker Parasram Maderna and daughter of former Minister Mahipal Maderna.

Mahindra Vishnoi has been fielded from Luni. He is the grandson of former Minister Ramsingh Vishnoi and son of former MLA Malkhan Vishnoi. Preeti Shaktawat who has been fielded from Vallabhnagar, is the daughter-in-law of former Minister Gulab Singh Shaktawat and the wife of former MLA Gajendra Shaktawat. Vivek Dhakad who has been fielded from Mandalgarh is the son of Kanhaiyalal Dhakad, while Rohit Bohra who got a ticket from Rajakheda is son of former Minister Pradyuman Singh. Surprisingly, a few days ago, Congress incharge Sukhjinder Singh Randhwara, had expressed worries on increasing nepotism in the party. He said, “Nepotism is one factor that we need to check. This is one area where we will work.”

In fact, the BJP has also been trying to end nepotism in its ranks. In the last bypolls in 2021, it did not give tickets to relatives of those who passed away, except for Deepti Maheshwari, daughter of MLA Kiran Maheshwari. While the party lost the two bypolls, it won one by-election where Deepti was fielded. “The central leadership did an experiment and boycotted nepotism in bypolls which did not work in our favour. We won where we fielded Deepti,” said a senior saffron party worker in a bid to explain why nepotism had made a comeback in the party in this election. IANS

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