Vasundhara Raje no more 'Maharani' as she loses her raj to Cong

Agencies
December 11, 2018

Jaipur, Dec 11: Often seen in wispy 'bandhini' and 'lahariya' chiffons, trademarks of not just Rajasthan craft but also of royalty, Vasundhara Raje is a politician to the manner born, a careful mix of hauteur and reserve -- even in defeat.

The former royal, who is usually called Maharani, is expected to win her seat Jhalrapatan with a handsome margin but her party appeared headed for a loss to the Congress on Tuesday.

As results came in and her party's defeat seemed imminent, she visited the BJP headquarters here but did not make a comment. This was her second term as chief minister and, in keeping with the tradition of voters choosing the Congress and the BJP alternately, the ruling party looks set to lose power.

Trends showed a majority for the Congress, which was in the lead in 101 seats, miles ahead of its tally of 21 in 2013 when the BJP won a massive victory of 163 seats in the 200-member house.

Raje, the daughter of Jivaji Rao Scindia, the last reigning Maharaja of Gwalior, and Vijayaraje Scindia, a prominent BJP leader, ruled Rajasthan as chief minister from 2003-2008 and from 2013-2018 and was the leader of the opposition from 2008 to 2013.

The high-profile Raje, who blends well into the erstwhile land of kings and queens and grand forts, began her Rajasthan connect after her marriage into the erstwhile royal family of Dholpur in the eastern part of the state.

Equally fluent in both Hindi and English, the 65-year-old, known for her glamour quotient and as a crowd puller, was born on international women's day on March 8 and is known for speaking her mind on issues.

She slammed former JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav last week for body shaming her on the last day of campaigning by calling her fat and saying she needed rest.

"I feel insulted. This is the insult of women," Raje said, adding that she was "absolutely shocked" and did not expect such a comment from an experienced leader.

It is probably this matter of fact, candidness that has helped her overcome the many challenges in her political career.

The five-time parliamentarian's style of functioning is described as 'autocratic' by many, within and outside the BJP. Senior BJP legislator Ghanshyam Tiwari had openly criticised her and complained to the high command, demanding action against her. Eventually, it was he who had to part ways from the party in June this year.

Amid rumours of her differences with BJP president Amit Shah, Raje led the BJP's election campaign in the state and took out a Gaurav Yatra. The Congress termed it 'Vidai Yatra' but she was unperturbed.

The Jal Swavalamban Abhiyan, an initiative for making villages self-reliant in water conservation with the support of the public, is among the programmes her government came to be known for.

Despite her being a popular leader among masses, many complain that she continues to be imperious and does not keep in touch with common people.

Raje, who did her schooling from Presentation Convent, Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, graduated with honours in Economics and Political Science from Sophia College, University of Mumbai.

Her first brush with politics came in 1984 when she was made a member of the National Executive of the newly formed BJP. A year later, she was appointed a vice president of the Yuva Morcha, Rajasthan, BJP. The same year, she was elected a member of the 8th Rajasthan Assembly from Dholpur.

Raje was elected as MP from Jhalawar constituency in 1998 and also became the minister of state in the Ministry of External Affairs, working closely with then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Raje has been the member of parliament for five times and has held various portfolios, including Small Scale Industries and Agro and Rural industries.

Given that politics runs in the family, the four-time legislator's son Dushyant Singh is a BJP MP from Jhalawar.

Raje may have lost this election but will surely be back to fight another day.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 9,2020

New Delhi, Jul 9: The Central Board of Secondary Education has strongly defended its decision to drop topics like democratic rights, citizenship, federalism, secularism etc in the name of reducing the syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 due to COVID-19 pandemic. 

The board has claimed that the dropped lessons "are either being covered by the rationalised syllabus or in the Alternative Academic Calendar of NCERT".

The CBSE said it had to come up with the clarification after realizing its decision was "interpreted differently".

"The rationalisation of syllabus up to 30 per cent has been undertaken by the Board for nearly 190 subjects of class 9 to 12 for the academic session 2020-21 as a one-time measure only. The objective is to reduce the exam stress of students due to the prevailing health emergency situation and prevent learning gaps," it said.

While it has said that no questions can be asked from the reduced syllabus in the next board exams, the CBSE has also directed schools to follow alternative calendars prepared by the NCERT.

"Therefore each of the topics that have been wrongly mentioned in media as deleted have been covered under Alternative Academic Calendar of NCERT which is already in force for all the affiliated schools of the Board," it clarified.

On Wednesday, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "Shocked to know that the central Government has dropped topics like citizenship, federalism, secularism and partisan in the name of reducing CBSE course during the COVID crisis."

"We strongly object to this and appeal the HRD Ministry to ensure these vital lessons aren't curtailed at any cost," Banerjee added.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 25,2020

New Delhi, May 25: India witnessed the highest ever spike of 6,977 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 to 1,38,845, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

India is now among the top 10 countries in the world regarding the total number of COVID-19 cases.

With 154 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of deaths due to COVID-19 now stands at 4,021 in the country.

Out of the total number of cases, 77,103 are active cases and 57,721 have been cured/discharged/migrated.

Maharashtra continues to remain the worst affected state with 50,231 COVID-19 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (16,277), Gujarat (14,056) and Delhi (13,418).

The fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 is scheduled to end on May 31.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 1,2020

Amaravati, Apr 1: All the 43 patients who were tested positive for COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday have returned after attending the event at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz, said Chief Minister's Office, Andhra Pradesh.

With 43 new COVID-19 positive cases, the total number of coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh has reached 87, informed the state Nodal Office earlier today.

The 43 new coronavirus positive cases were reported between March 31, 9 pm and April 1, 9 am. A total of 373 samples were tested during this time period and of these samples, 330 were negative and 43 came out to be positive.

There has been an increase of 240 COVID-19 cases in the last 12 hours across the country.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases have reached 1637 in India, including 1466 active cases, 133 cured/discharged/migrated people and 38 deaths.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.