Diya Kumari, the granddaughter of Sawai Man Singh II, the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jaipur, who, during her recent election campaign, was portrayed as a “daughter of Jaipur” and the “princess who walks on the streets.” A royal with down-to-earth approach, made her a popular figure not only among the people of Rajasthan, but a clear choice as Deputy CM by the BJP. The sight of the newly-crowned deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, taking oath in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was reminiscent of an occasion twenty years back, when Vasundhara Raje, another former royal, was sworn in as the state’s CM in 2003. The former CM, Raje, watched from the side-lines the rise of her protege with whom she now shares a shaky relationship.
Incidentally, it was Raje who was instrumental in bringing Kumari into the BJP ranks before the 2013 Assembly elections when the former was the party’s CM candidate. Kumari joined the BJP at a rally in her presence, then BJP president Rajnath Singh and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who at the time was the Gujarat CM. Kumari contested the elections the same year from the Sawai Madhopur Assembly constituency and was pitted against both the Congress’s Danish Abrar and veteran tribal leader Kirodi Lal Meena, who contested on a ticket of the National People’s Party (NPP). Kumari defeated her experienced rivals to win Sawai Madhopur.
In 2016, Kumari and the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur sparred with the Raje-led state government after Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) officials sealed the gates of the family-owned Rajmahal Palace hotel during an anti-encroachment drive. The incident drove a wedge between Raje and her, contributing to the Rajput anger against the BJP, with the community, despite being traditional supporters of the party, largely voting against it in the 2018 Assembly elections.
In the last decade, Kumari has won all three elections that she has contested. Her maiden entry was in the 2013 assembly polls when she became an elected MLA from Sawai Madhopur. In 2018, she did not fight the assembly polls and contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Rajsamand and won with a huge victory margin of 5.51 lakh votes. In 2023, she won from the Vidyadhar Nagar constituency in Jaipur against Congress’ Sitaram Agarwal with a margin of 71,368 votes. Interestingly, while the constituencies kept changing in Kumari’s political timeline, what remained constant was the massive margin of votes with which she swept the polls.
Soon after taking charge as the deputy CM, the two-time MLA and one-time MP, said that the people of the state have expressed faith in the party, and so the government will try to shoulder the increased responsibilities. During her election campaign, Kumari had made a pitch for environment, education, healthcare, and women’s empowerment.
With parallels drawn with Raje, Kumari is considered a potential top leader in party circles, who, unlike Raje, draws her strength from being in the good books of the central leadership. The fact that despite nursing chief ministerial ambitions, she has been made one of the two deputy chief ministers in Rajasthan indicates that the party will not change its strategy of appointing low-profile CMs.
Nevertheless, it is a big victory for Kumari to become the second-in-command in the state within a decade of being brought to politics by her former mentor and BJP veteran Vasundhara Raje.
