This Article is From May 06, 2009

The 'political wives' of Rajasthan

The 'political wives' of Rajasthan
Kota, Alwar: They are not regular politicians yet they are out in sizzling temperatures, campaigning for their husbands. Meet the political wives of Rajasthan.

She is Farooq Abdullah's daughter and Omar's sister - but this is Sara Pilot's first real campaign for her husband, Sachin Pilot in Ajmer.

"Political life mein to private life rehtee hee nahee hai. Political life aur private life to ek hee hai. Achee baat ye hai ki jabse main paida huee hoon maine ye hee dekha hai to adjustment itna nahee hai," said Sara Pilot. (In politics private life and political life is the same thing. The good thing is that since the time I was born this is how things have been around me so adjustment is not an issue.)

However, this is not so for Ambika Singh. In her Reeboks and sarees, she negotiates an entirely new political topography.

Marriage was a dramatic change. The customs of a royal family and the politics of Rajasthan were what she has to experience as she campaigns for her husband, Congress' Jitendra Singh.
Understanding politics is easier, she says than overcoming her shyness.

"My friends would be shocked if they saw me. I am very shy but I felt I must help my husband," said Ambika Singh.

Further south, Kalpana Kumari, wife of Ijyeraj Singh, could be seen at a NREGS work site. Her aim is to cash in on the Congress scheme and also to provide the papers with eye catching pictures.

"I am not a politician. I grew up in the tea gardens. But I am just helping my husband because he does not have time to go everywhere," she said.

Whether it is Vasundhara Raje's daughter-in-law Niharika or these 30 something young political wives, stepping out of their drawing rooms for the first time in this election, they have seen an entirely new India up close and personal.

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