Congress fields Jaswant’s son against Rajasthan CM Raje

JAIPUR: Congress sprung its biggest surprise in the run-up to the Rajasthan assembly polls on Saturday by nominating Manvendra Singh, son of former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh, against chief minister Vasundhara Raje from her constituency Jhalrapatan in Jhalawar district.
None from the Jaswant Singh family, which hails from western Rajasthan, has ever contested an election in eastern Rajasthan, the home ground of Raje and her parliamentarian son Dushyant Singh.Congress has nominated Manvendra hoping to encash the resentment of Rajputs against the CM for allegedly targeting his family and the community. Rajasthan goes to the polls on December 7.
Manvendra told TOI, “The party told me about my nomination from this seat only today (Saturday).”
When news broke that Congress has fielded Manvendra against Raje, Jhalrapatan-based Kshatriya Mahasabha president Nand Singh Rathore said, “Rajputs will stand with Manvendra in these elections.” He added, “Not only Raje but her son Dushyant Singh, who is Lok Sabha MP from Jhalawar-Baran, has also been ignoring the people here. Farmers, especially the garlic growers suffered losses and some even committed suicides last year, but the government did not come to their rescue.”Raje filed her nomination on Saturday and made the first attack on Manvendra by calling him an “outsider”. “Congress has para-dropped an outsider. He will be facing the entire Jhalawar family, not me alone,” she said.Jhalrapatan, which lies along the Madhya Pradesh border, has been Raje’s assembly constituency since 2003. She defeated Rama Pilot, widow of Congress stalwart Rajesh Pilot, by a margin of over 27,000 votes in 2003. Raje defeated Congress’ Mohan Lal by over 32,000 votes in 2008 and Meenakshi Chandrawat by over 60,000 votes in 2013.