JAIPUR: Somya Gurjar, hand-picked by the RSS, will compete with
Congress candidate Divya Singh
for the mayor’s post in
Greater Municipal Corporation
, Jaipur.
Both BJP and Congress fielded candidates from Gurjar community after the seat was reserved for Other Backward Class (OBC) woman.
Gurjar, former women commission member, was entangled in a controversy after she clicked a ‘selfie’ with a rape victim in 2016. However, with 88 councillors in BJP’s kitty, Gurjar is within sniffing distance of the post while possibilities of her Oxford returned rival Singh looks bleak after the Congress finished a distant second by winning 49 seats.
Taking a jibe at the BJP’s decision, Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi said, “BJP is making a joke of the people’s mandate by appointing Gurjar. She was forced to resign from her post after taking selfie with rape victim. A woman who does not have wisdom where to click pictures has been picked by the party to head the corporation.”
Gurjar (36) is not only facing opposition from
the Congress party
, but also from her own party members. BJP MLAs of
Jaipur city
who were discontented with the decision did not accompany Gurjar to the office to file nomination for the mayor’s post.
Supporters of Sheel Dhabhai also protested against the decision. Dhabhai was amongt the front runner for the post as she was first woman mayor of Jaipur city. A senior BJP party leader said, “There were 9 women candidates belonging to OBC community who won the election.”
The BJP announced the name of Gurjar after the Congress fielded Divya Singh. Though, political equations are not in favour Singh, but she was always considered as strong candidate. 28-year-old Singh studied diploma in business management from Oxford. Her father Sanjay Singh is an AICC member and close aide of urban development and housing (UDH) minister Shanti Dhariwal.
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