'The good governance which the Congress government claims has resulted in a regime where women in Rajasthan are afraid to go out of their homes.'
She is a princess with a difference.
Diya Kumari is the daughter of the late Brigadier Bhawani Singh, the former maharaja of Jaipur who received the Maha Vir Chakra for his gallantry in the 1971 War.
Brigadier Bhawani Singh's only child married a commoner -- Narendra Singh, an employee at Jaipur's City Palace -- and after 21 years of marriage that produced three children, divorced him.
Bhawani Singh adopted his daughter's son Padmanabh Singh who became the titular maharaja of Jaipur after his grandfather's death.
Diya Kumari joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2013 at the behest of Vasundhara Raje, herself the maharani of Dholpur in Rajasthan and a daughter of the Scindia royal family in Gwalior.
Diya Kumari contested the 2013 assembly election from Sawai Madhopur, of which the famous Ranthambhore tiger national park is a part, and defeated Dr Kirori Lal Meena, the powerful Congress nominee.
Dr Kirori Meena, a leader of the agriculturist tribal Meena community, is now in the BJP. The Rajya Sabha member has been asked by the BJP's central leadership to contest the Sawai Madhopur seat in the current assembly election, and Diya Kumari has campaigned for Dr Meena there.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Diya Kumari was assigned the Rajsamand constituency even though she wanted to contest her native Jaipur seat.
Rajsamand is a very complex Lok Sabha constituency with eight Assembly segments spread over four far-flung districts.
With a Modi wave to favour her, she scored an emphatic victory over Deokinandan of the Congress by 550,000 votes.
"She would travel from one segment to the other touching the four districts' various villages and look after the people's needs," says Parbat Singh Rawat, a resident of Bhim, an assembly segment of the Rajsamand Lok Sabha constituency..
"She would meet Union ministers to get her job done and she got a number of roads and rail projects cleared that not only made her popular, but her performance was rated one of the best among the 25 Lok Sabha members from Rajasthan," adds Rawat.
Diya Kumari wanted to continue in national politics, but was surprised when the party told her to contest the 2023 Vidhan Sabha election from the Vidyadhar Nagar constituency in Jaipur.
This seat was represented thrice by Narpat Singh Rajvi, the late BJP titan Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's son-in-law.
Rajvi, who is seen as close to Vasundhara Raje, was first denied an election ticket, but then shifted to Chittorgarh, a constituency which he once represented in the state assembly.
The Congress has again fielded Sita Ram Agarwal, a businessman, who lost to Rajvi in the 2018 assembly election by a big margin, against Diya Kumari, whose victory is seen as a foregone conclusion.
Some political observers have speculated that if the BJP wins the assembly election in Rajasthan, Diya Kumari could well be the state chief minister, instead of the hugely popular Vasundhara Raje who is not known to enjoy the confidence of Narendra D Modi and Amit A Shah, the BJP's most powerful leaders.
Rediff.com Senior Contributor Prakash Bhandari spoke to Diya Kumari on the campaign trail in Vidyadhar Nagar, a newly developed colony which has been named after the main architect of Jaipur, Vidyadhar Bhattacharya who designed the Pink City 296 years ago.
What was your reaction when you were asked by the party to contest the Vidhan Sabha election?
In the BJP, we are all soldiers of the party, and do whatever is instructed for the organisation.
I have been in state politics earlier also. If the BJP leadership decided to field me as a Vidhan Sabha candidate this time, I welcome their decision.
My focus now is to win this election with a huge margin.
My end goal always remains to serve the people of my constituency, whether it was as an MLA in Sawai Madhopur, as a member of Parliament in Rajsamand and now in Vidyadhar Nagar in Jaipur, my home city.
Don't you think it is a big change from national to state politics?
I don't consider it much of a change as the aim remains the same -- to serve the people.
You did a lot for the Rajsamand Lok Sabha constituency. Don't you think the people of Rajsamand are unhappy as you have been fielded for the Vidhan Sabha elections leaving your unfinished work in Rajsamand?
Development work in any constituency is dynamic and continues on a regular basis. I did the same in Rajsamand, and before that in Sawai Madhopur.
I was fortunate to have guidance from senior party leaders who helped me a lot in achieving results of my work and implementation of many historic projects in the Rajsamand Lok sabha constituency.
You started your political career in 2013. What was your experience as an MLA?
Whether one is working for a Lok Sabha constituency or Vidhan Sabha constituency, the primary objective is always to work for the people of one's constituency and proactively try and develop the region by way of improved infrastructure. My experience as a MLA was fulfilling.
Your father Maharaja Saheb Sawai Bhawani Singh of Jaipur was in the Congress. Why did you opt to join the BJP?
My late father stood for election on the late Rajiv Gandhi's personal request.
I joined the BJP because I was convinced that under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country is going from strength to strength.
Apart from widespread corruption, there was hardly any development work in Rajasthan in Congress regimes.
What the country has achieved in the last ten years is absolutely amazing in almost all the sectors.
What are your development plans for Vidyadhar Nagar?
Parts of Vidyadhar Nagar is still undeveloped. The Congresss claim that the Ashok Gehlot government has sanctioned Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion) development work in the area in the last five years, but I have not been able to see any change.
Roads, water, sewers, sanitation, and even Internet connectivity is the issue in the area.
If this is the Congress development model, then they should pack their bags from Vidyadhar Nagar forever.
My plan for my constituency includes getting a satellite cum trauma hospital and a government college for the area.
Beside this, infrastructure and road bottleneck are the major issues which need to be addressed.
Since the MLA from Vidhyadhar Nagar was from the BJP, and the state government was that of the Congress, there was hardly any development work undertaken in Vidhyadhar Nagar.
What were the failures of the Gehlot government?
The list is extremely long. But the primary failure is the total collapse of law and order in the state, including crimes against women.
Only three days ago, police personnel raped a four-year-old girl, and this was not the first such incident.
From unemployment to the leaks of question papers in the state service examinations, it is there for everyone to see.
This government has failed the youth. People are eagerly waiting to remove the corrupt Congress government.
The Congress says there is no anti-incumbency against the Ashok Gehlot government.
It is an absolutely false claim.
Cases are being reported where even policemen are raping women while Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot sits on his laurels holding the home minister portfolio.
The youth sees no future in Rajasthan as paper leaks have demoralised them to the core.
The people of Rajasthan know the ground reality and it will reflect in the election results.
People are smart and politically aware. They will vote this government out.
The people and party are sure you will win by a thumping majority.
There will be an overwhelming win for the BJP in Rajasthan. Looking at the response of the people to my campaign, I am quite sure that I am going to win with a huge margin.
Nevertheless, I will not take my campaign lightly. I am very proud of my BJP workers who are slogging day in and day out to achieve a vast majority.
We are not taking anything for granted.
Are you in the running for the chief ministership?
This is a speculative question which the media asks to make their headlines. After the results are out, the BJP leadership will decide who will lead the government in the state.
If the party asks you to contest the Lok Sabha election in 2024 from Jaipur or Rajsamand, what would you prefer?
This is again a speculative question. We will cross the bridge when we come to it.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
