Sanjna Jatav

Dalit leader Sanjna Jatav’s political journey has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows, but her recent victory in the Lok Sabha polls marks a significant milestone. Just six months ago, the then 25-year-old faced defeat in the Assembly elections by a narrow margin of 409 votes. Despite the setback, she used the experience to sharpen her political acumen and strategise for the future.

Now, at the age of 26, Sanjna has clinched victory in the Bharatpur constituency on a Congress ticket, winning it by a margin of 51,983 votes with over 5.79 lakh votes polled in her favour. This special win comes after her initial foray into electoral politics as a zila parishad member. She won the Alwar zila parishad in 2021 from ward number 29 by 4,661 votes.

This win for Sanjna also marks a rare victory for the Congress in Bharatpur. In 2009, Congress leader Ratan Singh defeated BJP’s Khemchand. However, in the 2014 and 2019 polls, the BJP secured 60.17% and 61.62% of the votes polled, respectively, to retain the seat. Sanjna brought the seat back to Congress with 51.29% votes.

Several factors contributed to Sanjna’s successful campaign, including her active involvement in Priyanka Gandhi’s “Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon” initiative and the support of Congress leaders such as AICC general secretary Bhanwar Jitendra Singh and former MP and minister Vishvendra Singh of the erstwhile Bharatpur royal family.

Her family background in grassroots politics, with a father and uncle serving in local governance roles, also helped.

Her father Harbhajan is a thekedar (contractor) and has been an up-sarpanch, while her uncle Kamal Singh has been a sarpanch of Samoochi village in Alwar. “I wanted to follow in their footsteps,” she said.

Her husband Kaptan Singh is a constable with Rajasthan Police posted in Alwar’s Thanagazi. The couple has two kids, a six-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter.

She completed her BA from Gandhi Jyoti College in Bhusawar, Bharatpur and got a degree in Law from Lords University in Alwar.