Diya Kumari, BJP's Potential Replacement For Vasundhara Raje (Image: X @KumariDiya)
On October 9, when the BJP released its first list of candidates for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly elections, Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari was also included in that list. Diya Kumari, the former princess of Jaipur, is one of the seven BJP parliamentarians who are contesting the Rajasthan Assembly polls.
Diya Kumari is the former princess of the Jaipur Royal Family and also the granddaughter of Man Singh II, the last ruling Maharaja of Jaipur during British rule in India. The former princess is also the biological mother of Padmanabh Singh, the current ‘Maharaja’ of Jaipur. It is worth mentioning that Padmanabh Singh was unofficially crowned as the “Maharaja of Jaipur” at the age of 12 upon the passing of his grandfather in 2011. Diya Kumari stepped into Rajasthan politics 10 years ago in the presence of then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, and Vasundhara Raje at a rally in Rajasthan”s Jaipur. In 2013, Diya Kumari became an elected member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from the Sawai Madhopur constituency.
The former princess was elected as a Member of Parliament to the Lok Sabha from Rajsamand in 2019. Diya Kumari was the second member of Jaipur”s royal family to have been elected to the Lok Sabha. Notably, her grandmother, Gayatri Devi, won the Jaipur Lok Sabha seat in 1962, 1967, and 1971. In 2019, Diya Kumari defeated the Congress candidate by over five lakh votes. She bagged 8,63,039 votes, against 3,11,123 votes for the Congress candidate.
Diya Kumari”s personal life is similar to that of a Bollywood film. The princess married Narendra Kumar Singh, a commoner, in August 1997. The royal family and the Rajput community were against the marriage. However, the couple got legally separated in 2019. Diya Kumari landed in a controversy in 2021 after claiming that the land on which the Taj Mahal was built originally belonged to her family. The BJP MP also supported the petition in the Allahabad high court, seeking a fact-finding inquiry into the history of Taj Mahal.
In the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly election, Diya Kumari is contesting from Jaipur”s prestigious Vidhyadhar Nagar Assembly constituency. The BJP made this crucial decision by replacing five-time MLA Narpat Singh Rajvi. He is the son-in-law of the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, a former vice president of India. In the election campaigns, Diya Kumari severely criticized the outgoing Congress government and highlighted issues like unemployment and women’s safety.
In the Rajasthan election, the BJP has not projected anyone as the chief ministerial candidate. However, Diya Kumari looks to be a potential contender for the role of Rajasthan CM. In September, during PM Narendra Modi”s rally in Jaipur, Diya Kumari anchored the event. Diya Kumari is regarded as a credible replacement for Vasundhara Raje. This is mainly because Vasundhara Raje”s role in the Rajasthan election is still not clearly defined, and she was notably absent from major campaigns in the state. At the same time, Diya Kumari”s limited political experience will be a barrier. Earlier in an interview with Moneycontrol, the former princess addressed the speculations of becoming the Rajasthan CM and said that she just focused on winning her constituency by a huge margin. Diya Kumari also added that the party will decide who will lead Rajasthan once the government is formed.
