Rajasthan Royals: Will BJP snub Raje and give CM post to Jaipur princess Diya Kumari?

Rajasthan has stuck to its “revolving door” tradition. The Congress has been voted out and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has registered a convincing victory, bagging 115 of the 199 Assembly seats. Now comes the next big challenge – picking a chief minister for the desert state. Vasundhara Raje is by far the state’s tallest leader. She has held the position of chief minister two times before. Will she be third time lucky? Or will the party pick a different leader? A name doing the rounds is that of another royal – Diya Kumari. We take a look at where the two women stand as the BJP celebrates its big win. Also read: Raje, Gehlot, Baghel and more… The big winners and losers of the Assembly elections Who is Diya Kumari? Princess Diya Kumari is a BJP leader and a member of the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur. She is the granddaughter of Man Singh II, the last ruling maharaja of the princely state of Jaipur, and the daughter of Sawai Bhawani Singh, who earned distinction in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war as a lieutenant colonel and the commanding officer of the Para Commandos of the 10th Parachute Regiment. On Sunday, the Rajsamand MP registered a thumping victory from the Vidhyadhar Nagar seat. She won by a margin of 71,368 votes defeating Congress candidate Sitaram Agarwal. In the polls this year, she was portrayed as the “daughter of Jaipur” and the “princess who walks on the streets”. This is the second time that Kumari has emerged victorious in the Assembly polls. She first became an MLA in 2013 from Sawai Madhopur. In the 2019 parliamentary polls, she was sent to the Lok Sabha by the voters of Rajsamand. She was elected MP with one of the biggest victory margins of 5.51 lakh votes. [caption id=“attachment_13461162” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Diya Kumar is welcomed by BJP workers after the victory in the Vidyadhar Nagar assembly constituency in Rajasthan. Image courtesy: @KumariDiya/X[/caption] The 52-year-old has over the years grown in stature. She has rooted for the environment, education, healthcare, and women’s empowerment. She was elected to serve as a member of the government’s National Tiger Conservation in 2019. Now as the buzz around the next Rajasthan chief minister grows, her name has been doing the rounds. While Kumari has said the party leadership would decide on the CM’s post, she did not shy away from making her ambition clear. “It is the love of the people who want to see me as CM of Rajasthan. The parliamentary board will take a call on who will be CM,” she was quoted as saying by India Today.

#WATCH | Rajasthan BJP MLA candidate Diya Kumari, in Jaipur says, "The credit for this win goes to PM Modi, Amit Shah ji, JP Nadda ji, state leaders and party workers. Modi ji's magic worked in Rajasthan and also MP & Chhattisgarh...We will ensure good governance and development… pic.twitter.com/3stn8l8Vj1

— ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2023

What are Raje’s chances of becoming CM? Seventy-year-old Raje has been sidelined by the party for the last five years. The BJP did not project any CM face during the campaigning even though Raje has a massive following. However, the veteran leader has her eyes on the top post and has sent out several signals to the leadership in Delhi. Now, she has bagged the Jhalrapatan Assembly seat by thumping 53,193 votes beating Congress’ Ram Lal Chouhan. Raje has been winning the seat since 2023 and her victory only reiterates how relevant she is to the state. [caption id=“attachment_13461192” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] BJP candidate Vasundhara Raje Scindia arrives at the party office after her victory in the Rajasthan Assembly elections on 3 December. PTI[/caption] Raje loyalists were demanding that she should be the party’s face in Rajasthan polls. An outfit like Vasundhara Raje Samarthak Manch was also launched – all signs that she is still influential in the state BJP. In meetings held in Rajasthan, party president J P Nadda has often acknowledged Raje’s stature, highlighting the “achievements” of her previous two governments, according to a report in The Indian Express. Also read: Will it be Vasundhara Raje again? Who will be Rajasthan CM as BJP is set for a win? During the elections, Raje campaigned across the state extensively. She also attended religious yatras in large numbers. Considered a moderate among BJP leaders, she has earlier steered clear of talking about religion and focused on development. And over the years, is said to have drifted from the top leadership in New Delhi. But during the campaign for the 2023 Assembly elections, she adopted a different tone. She hit out at the Gehlot government, accusing it of “appeasement politics”. Raje has also been doing the rounds of temples since the voting got over on 25 November.

देव-दर्शन की कड़ी में आज दौसा स्थित मेहंदीपुर बालाजी महाराज के दर्शन का सौभाग्य भी प्राप्त हुआ।

यहां वीर हनुमान से राष्ट्र की सुख एवं समृद्धि के लिए पूजा-अर्चना की।#MehandipurBalaji pic.twitter.com/i79w9Bimlv

— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) December 2, 2023

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“This is a victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Sabka saath sabka vikas” philosophy, the strategy of Amit Shah and the leadership of JP Nadda, of the hard work of our party workers and the will of the people, who will give a chance to the prime minister to serve them again,” she told the media. In the Hindi heartland states, the BJP fought the elections under the banner of PM Modi. It has worked well and the party scored 3/3, winning in Rajasthan, retaining power in Madhya Pradesh, and flipping Chhattisgarh. Raje has played by the rule book. But now she is up against other CM contenders – Rajasthan has probably the most number of hopefuls. Diya Kumari is one among the many. The other names include Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat, state BJP chief CP Joshi, and Rajasthan’s “Yogi”, Baba Balak Nath. There is buzz that Raje may have to sit out this term. However, this is politics and nothing is set in stone. With inputs from agencies