Alwar: For Meena Kumari, 46, an Independent contesting from the Alwar Rural seat in Rajasthan, the election isn’t as much about winning as it is about defeating her father, BJP candidate and former MLA Jairam Jatav.
Speaking to ThePrint on the campaign trail, Kumari said she was “forced to come out of the kitchen” to contest against her father because of the “ill-treatment” she had faced from him since she was born.
She described Jatav as a “superstitious man” who had “tortured” her for bringing “bad luck” to the family.
“He is very superstitious,” she said, her voice sore from electioneering. “The reason I am fighting the election is that he does not respect his own daughter. So, how can he respect others’ daughters?” she said. “They say ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’,” she added, referring to the Modi government campaign. “How can daughters move forward like this?”
Kumari’s campaign is backed by her husband Tara Chand, who accompanies her as she goes out to seek votes.
Jatav, meanwhile, said her daughter was hardly a factor in the election, adding that his primary rival was the Congress’ Tikaram Jully, who currently holds the seat.
Kumari was in the fray to cut votes, but won’t be able to, added Jatav, who won the seat on a BJP ticket in 2013 but wasn’t nominated by the party in 2018.
Alleging a “Congress ploy” behind her campaign, he said the “Congress candidate has been trying this (to promote her) for the last six months through funding and lalach (greed)”.
“But there is no impression among people,” he added, seated in front of a large statue of Lord Ram at his office-cum-home. “It is a straightforward contest (between the BJP and the Congress).”
Alwar Rural is reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates. The Alwar district has 11 assembly seats where the SCs account for 18 percent of the population.
In 2018, the Congress won five of these seats and the BJP, the BSP and Independents won two each.
The Rajasthan assembly election is scheduled to be held in a single phase Saturday.
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‘With tears of blood’
A family member from Kumari’s husband’s side, refusing to be identified, said she had had a rough childhood.
“Jatav’s first son died soon after his birth. Then Kumari was born. Someone told him (Jatav) that the daughter had brought ill fate with her and was the reason for his son’s death,” the family member added. “Since then, she has not been treated like Jatav’s other kids, including daughters and sons.”
In October, Kumari was reportedly involved in a brawl with her brother outside the BJP headquarters in Jaipur, after he allegedly assaulted her son while he was putting up posters in her support. She was vying for a nomination from the BJP at the time.
“From the very start, his (Jatav’s) relationship with me has been like this,” Kumari told ThePrint. “He tortured me again and again, sometimes through relatives. This has been the family’s behaviour towards me.”
She said she was going to the public “with tears of blood”. “I have come into politics because my father doesn’t listen to me but hopefully people will,” she added.
Through the campaign, she said, Jatav had sent “representatives of various communities for negotiation”.
“Had he come to me even once, on his own, I would have reconsidered my decision to fight elections,” she added.
‘Her motive is to cut votes’
When Jatav contested from Alwar Rural in 2013, Kumari — after initial reluctance, she said — walked next to her father to seek votes for him. He had defeated Jully in the election by 26,799 votes.
This time, he said, he will win the election by over 50,000 votes.
“I have remained connected with people throughout. There is a caste equation. This is a unique constituency where even Muslims are ready to vote for me,” he added. “The BJP has not given tickets to a single Muslim so they should be angry. But they are voting for me here”
He said Kumari wasn’t placed well in the election. “Her motive is to cut votes. They wanted to create an issue for my ticket [from BJP] as well,” he added.
His suspicion that her nomination is his rival’s design finds resonance among his supporters.
“She was activated by Congress candidate Tikaram Jully. He didn’t want Jairam Jatav to get the ticket,” said Tulsiram, a BJP worker from Alwar Rural.
“He thought, when Meena comes into the picture, the party will deny him the ticket,” he added. “Public knows no one is going to vote for Meena.”
Another supporter standing outside Jatav’s house said Meena Kumari “won’t even get 100 votes”.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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