Amethis ranis duel over seat

Lucknow: It’s 7.30am on a breezy Monday and all eyes are set on the royal Bhupati Bhawan palace in Amethi where two queens, Garima Sinh and

Ameeta Sinh

, the two wives of Raja

Sanjay Sinh

, are pitted against each other; Garima by the BJP and Ameeta by the Congress. Half an hour later, Ameeta’s cavalcade — she and Sanjay are in different cars — proceeds towards the Sati Maharani temple to offer prayers before casting her vote. Making her political debut, Garima — Sinh’s first wife — steps out of the same palace and heads towards the same temple.

Clad in a peach saree, Ameeta is accompanied by Sanjay, also the Congress’ campaign committee chairman and Rajya Sabha member. Inside the temple, the couple performs a puja seeking “support of the people of Amethi.” “Aaj yahi maanga ki main Amethi ki ummeedon par khari utroon (I should meet the expectations of people in Amethi),” says Ameeta before touching Sanjay’s feet for his ‘aashirvad’.

Counting on her children — her son Anant Vikram Singh and daughters Mahima and Shaivya — Garima visits the temple to help her win in the family feud over palace property and legal rights of a wedded woman. “I have returned to claim my royal status. I am seeking justice, social and personal,” she says.

Barely 200 metres away from the polling booth, a primay school, Jangalramnagar, both Ameeta and Garima, one after another, stop by a ‘mazaar’ named after Malik Mohammad Jaysi. And it is here that Garima says, “The Supreme Court’s verdict says I am the only wife of Raja saheb. It’s people’s support which has given me the strength to stand here today.”

While people wait for their turn to cast their vote, the Raja and Rani, breaking the queue, enter polling booth 41 to cast their votes. And to her opponent, who is stuck in a traffic jam near the same polling station, a confident Ameeta says, “Insaaf ki ladai rajeenti ke manch se nahi ladi jaati (Politics is not the forum to seek justice ).” Sanjay adds, “Ye ladai poori tarah se siyasi hai, naa ki koi parivarik kalah hai (It is a political fight and has nothing to do with family feud).”

And when it’s Garima’s turn to exercise her franchise, she is greeted by public as the ‘original’ and ‘purani’ rani. Calling her son Anant Vikram Singh as the Maharaj, people of Amethi welcome her with folded hands. “Main janta ke beech mein apne aap ko sabse zyada surakshit samajhti hoon. Ab waqt hai ki janta ke liye kuchh kar sakoon, unhein moolbhoot cheezein milein aur Amethi ka vikas ho (I am the safest when among the public. It’s time to work for the welfare of the people and ensure basic facilities for them),” Garima says.

Though the two ranis are up against each other, their cause is common. “Hamari ladai kisi vyakti se nahi hai. Ye ladai vichaar dhaaraon ki hai (We are not fighting against any person. It’s an ideological fight),” say both.