Political parties give voters in state some royal options
They are different! Around 10 rajas, ranis, rajkumars, kunwars and rajkumaris are fighting this Lok Sabha election on tickets from various parties.
So while these blue-blooded candidates may go door-to-door asking for votes just like any other contestant, they get a royal welcome from the public, rarely accorded to other politician.
Interestingly, there are also a number of traditions associated with them in different regions.
For instance, no marriage or celebration can be held in his house without Jaipal Singh Parihar of Kankarkhera village setting aside offerings and gifts for the deities—and for the ‘Raja of Bhadawar’. The ritual is observed by many ‘thakurs’ in villages under the Bah assembly segment under Fatehpur Sikri Lok Sabha constituency.
So, as cabinet minister Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh canvasses for his wife Rani Pakshalika Singh, a Samajwadi Party candidate from Fatehpur Sikri Lok Sabha seat, the villagers here not only apply the mandatory ‘tilak’ on his forehead, but also load him with ‘bhaints’ (token gifts), following centuries-long tradition. For, the six-time MLA is a descendent of the erstwhile Bhadawar royal family.
Rani Amita Singh, of the Ramnagar-Amethi House, is the Congress candidate from Sultanpur against BJP’s Varun Gandhi. Her husband Sanjay Singh was the sitting MP here and was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam. He always follows the family tradition of voting in the polls only after his ‘dhobi’ has cast his vote at the Ramnagar polling booth.
“My family has always lived with the people and worked with the people for the people. Pratapgarh is like a fam- ily to me. I have been accepted as the daughter of this family,” says Congress MP Rajkumari Ratna Singh from the Kalakankar House, who is seeking reelection from the seat. The Congress has also fielded another royal, Vasundhara Kumari Jai Pratap Singh of Bansi, from the Dumariyaganj Lok Sabha seat after its sitting MP Jagdambika Pal joined the BJP. Vasundhara’s husband Jai Pratap Singh is campaigning for his wife to defeat Pal, who is contesting on a BJP ticket. Jai Pratap himself is a sitting BJP MLA.
“People do have high expectations if you come from a royal background,” admits Vasundhara. “But, my husband has lived up to the people’s expectations. He has won the election six times and lost only once.”
Kirtivardhan Singh f rom t he Mankapur House is contesting the election as a BJP candidate from Gonda. The former Samajwadi Party leader switched loyalties switched when the party denied him a ticket and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav dropped his father, ex-agriculture minister Anand Singh, from the council of ministers.
Other blue-blooded contestants in the fray include RPN Singh of the Gaharawar Rajput family, a union minister of state for home affairs and Congress candidate from Padrauna; Congress’ Moradabad candidate Begum Noor Bano from the princely state of Rampur; her son Kazim Ali Khan, the Congress candidate from Rampur; and Kunwar Bhartendu Singh from Sahanpur, the BJP candidate from Bijnore.