The BJP is preparing to wrest power from Congress in the forthcoming assembly elections in Rajasthan. The BJP will rely heavily on Vasundhara Raje, a two-time Chief Minister and one of the party’s tallest leaders in the state.
Here are five points about the senior BJP leader:
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Vasundhara Raje comes from the Scindia royal family, the former rulers of Gwalior, now in Madhya Pradesh. Her mother Vijayaraje Scindia was a prominent leader in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) and later in the BJP. Her brother Madhavrao Scindia was a prominent Congress leader.
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She started her political career in 1984 with the BJP. She steadily progressed within the party, becoming the vice president of the youth wing in Rajasthan in 1985 and then the vice president of the state unit two years later. She served multiple terms in the Lok Sabha until 2003. In 2003, she returned to state politics and became the first woman Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
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Vasundhara Raje got married to Hemant Singh in 1972, who was the head of the Dholpur royal family in Rajasthan.
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Her son Dushyant Singh is a Parliamentarian from her former constituency Jhalawar.
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She is a graduate in economics and political science from Sophia College for Women in Mumbai.
