AMETHI: At her poll rallies,
Garima Sinh
rarely does the talking. Her daughters Mahima and Shaivya, son Anant Vikram, and BJP's local netas take turns to describe her: "charitravaan" (virtuous). Often, as the crowd works its way to the front rows for a closer glimpse of the 'original Rani', Garima Sinh is happy only to smile; expressing her gratitude and appealing for votes with folded hands.
Sinh, the Congress' campaign committee chairman
Sanjay Sinh
's former wife, makes her political debut on a BJP ticket from the erstwhile Gandhi turf of Amethi. She is pitted against
Ameeta Sinh
, Sinh's wife at present, who is Congress's nominee here. the royal family feud is spilling onto the streets.
If Ameeta is a three-time MLA and former minister in the UP government, Garima, though a late debutante, also has politics in her blood. She belongs to former PM VP Singh's family, and is a descendant of the royal family of Daiya. Among locals, Garima enjoys considerable sympathy as the 'Rani who was wronged', left by husband Sanjay Sinh for Ameeta in the early 1990s.
Now engaged in a bitter legal battle over family property running into several hundred acres, Garima Sinh told TOI, "You're aware of the circumstances we've lived in over the past few years. These forced me to come out. BJP thought I was suitable, and I want to use this opportunity to connect with the people of Amethi, who have wanted to see me for very long."
If Garima has the sympathy, Ameeta, the shuttler of yesteryear is no pushover either. Protecting the fief her husband Sanjay has ruled over for 35 years, the resident rani has her campaign plans chalked out.
If they have chosen to bring a personal, legal battle into the public domain, and think an electoral battle will help settle it, it's their problem. As far as I am concerned, I tell the people of Amethi they are voting for a legislator; for someone to do their work. A political novice who has remained cloistered within the walls of a palace, and then left town, will not be able to do that,” is her take.
Garima Sinh's candidature from Amethi, a traditional Congress bastion, has intensified the poll drama. Popular despite her long absence from Amethi, Garima returned to the family's Bhupati Bhawan palace in Amethi in July 2014. She, her son Anant Vikram and daughters Mahima and Shaivya have since been locked in a bitter battle for control over the family fortunes with Sanjay and Ameeta.
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