Rajasthan Assembly Election: 'Jaipur ki Beti' Diya Kumari BJP's 'faceless' CM candidate?

Lok Sabha MP from Rajsamand Diya Kumari.

'Jaipur ki Beti' is talk of the town in poll-bound Rajasthan where the BJP has not named a potential candidate for the chief minister's post yet. Diya Kumari, born a princess in the royal family of Jaipur and now a member of Parliament, looks to be a potential contender for the top job if there's a saffron sweep in the desert state on December 3.

Representing the Rajsamand Lok Sabha seat, Kumari is running in the Vidyadhar Nagar Assembly constituency in Jaipur City and her campaign targets ruling Ashok Gehlot’s Congress government on issues like law and order, women’s safety, paper leaks, and unemployment.

The 52-year-old had joined the BJP on September 10, 2013 in Jaipur in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Vasundhara Raje. She has secured victories in both the state and Lok Sabha elections since then.

With the BJP not proposing any chief ministerial candidate, winds are raging in favour of Diya Kumari, with people backing her as a suitable candidate for the job. Kumari is also perceived as a rival of her senior in the BJP camp Vasundhara Raje, after she got into a public spat with her when Raje was the chief minister in 2016. Raje had to step back from pursuing action against the alleged encroachment by Kumari’s family-owned Rajmahal Palace in the Pink City of Jaipur.

Having 42 municipal wards in her Vidyadhar Nagar segment with 2.75 lakh voters, Kumari has held as many as 195 meetings and rallies since October 25. Her office is getting flooded with requests from voters to hold more public rallies and meetings in different areas.

The constituency was being represented by five-term MLA and Raje loyalist Narpat Singh Rajvi, son-in-law of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. However, the party shifted him to contest from Chittorgarh.

In an interview with Moneycontrol, Kumari talks about her political journey, saying she has followed the directions of the party high command and the party has plans for every candidate. Here's an excerpt from the brief interaction Moneycontrol had with Kumari:

You’re a Lok Sabha MP and the party has now fielded you from an Assembly segment. How do you read this change in your political journey?

Even before I became an MP from Rajsamand, I had been an MLA from Sawai Madhopur. The BJP leadership has its own plan for each candidate. When I was asked to contest from Sawai Madhopur, I did the same. And ditto with Rajsamand when I was asked to represent it in Parliament.

I will follow the directions given by the party and give my utmost for the people of the constituency I would represent.

Many people see you as CM probable. Are we talking to the next CM of Rajasthan?

This is mere speculation created by the media. As of now, I am just focusing on winning from my constituency with a huge margin. The party will decide who will lead the state once the government is formed.

The BJP went without a CM face in Karnataka and you know the results there. The party is now applying the same in Rajasthan. Don’t you think it can affect the party’s prospects?

The BJP's face is it’s emblem Kamal (lotus). The prime minister himself has said more than once in different rallies that people should vote for BJP.

In 25 years, no CM in Rajasthan has returned to power, this time Congress is confident of breaking the history. What do you think? is your party relying on this tradition of anti-incumbency? Or do you think it is the Modi wave that will help the BJP here?

The Ashok Gehlot government is going to get a crushing defeat. You will see it for yourself on December 3. This state government was characterised by horrendous crimes against women, innumerable paper leaks, which played with the future of the youth, unemployment, raw deal to the farmers and others. There is no denying that people will vote for Narendra Modi’s BJP government. They also have a strong desire to vote out an inefficient and corrupt government.