UP polls: BJP has fielded Sanjay Singh's former wife Garima Singh against wife Ameeta Singh in Amethi
Ameeta Singh, called Rani or queen by Amethi locals, admits she is fighting a difficult election. Not because she faces off with her party, the Congress' alliance partner, but because the BJP has fielded her husband's former wife against her. Amethi votes in the fifth phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections, being held on seven days.
"It is a little difficult as one doesn't expect this in a live democracy. We aren't settling personal issues," said Ameeta, 54, about contesting against Garima Singh, 60, also called Rani in these parts. Garima Singh, the BJP's candidate, is the estranged first wife of Sanjay Singh, Rajya Sabha MP from the Congress and the "Raja of Amethi."
Mostly it's an awkward situation all around for Mr Singh, who is one of the Congress' key strategists for UP. Standing beside his wife he told NDTV, "I find that my ex-wife is abusing me...she is washing family laundry in public...I am also human, it hurts."
Garima Singh is the enstranged first wife of Sanjay Singh, Rajya Sabha MP from the Congress and the "Raja of Amethi."
The BJP is banking on the blockbuster potential of a Rani vs Rani battle and palace intrigue in fielding Garima Singh, a political neophyte. Garima alleges that Sanjay Singh's marriage to Ameeta is illegal, and had three years ago moved into a portion of the Bhupati Bhawan Palace in Amethi that they live in.
Then there is the Samajwadi Party. In seat sharing after they put together what they call a "dream alliance," Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had chosen to keep the Amethi assembly seat for his party. The Congress was not happy - assembly segments in Raebareli and Amethi, the parliamentary constituencies of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, were a prestige point in talks with Mr Yadav and the party would have preferred to contest all ten.
But Mr Yadav devised a five-seats-each split, fielding last time's winner and his party's minister Gayatri Prajapati in Amethi. Mr Prajapati is an influential backward caste leader, who had defeated Ameeta Singh in 2012 by almost 10,000 votes.
Ameeta has insisted on contesting the election. "The voters here know Akhilesh Yadav is our Chief Minister. If Rani Ameeta wins, then she too will help Akhilesh Yadav," Sanjay Singh, 65, said.
"Rani Ameeta" tore into her Samajwadi Party opponent, saying, "The alliance stands but the people here who have faced atrocities of this candidate will make me win as there has been no development."
"I have been a sportsperson and this is no friendly fight," she added in a reference to her days as a badminton player, who was once married to star shuttler Syed Modi. Mr Modi was shot dead in 1988 and Sanjay Singh and Ameeta were charged with murder, but were later acquitted by courts.