Mukul Chaudhury, wife of serving IPS officer Pankaj who had earlier declared that she would contest from Jhalarapatan constituency against chief minister Vasundhara Raje as an independent candidate is likely to join the Congress. She had visited 10 Janpath New Delhi, the official residence of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday which sparked the rumors of the party giving her a ticket.
She however chose to remain silent over such conjectures but admitted to visiting Gandhi’s residence and met the Congress leaders.
When asked about her visit, she said, “Congress President Rahul Gandhi recently talked about giving tickets to youth and women candidates to boost their participation in politics. That is why I decided to meet the Congress leaders”. She further said, “A woman candidate against another woman is the best contest and so I am preparing to contest against Raje”.
As Congress has also not named any candidate against Raje from Jhalarapatan, it may likely give the ticket to Chaudhury. Earlier, Mukul had decided to contest the election as an independent candidate from Jhalarapatan assembly constituency itself.
“Jhalarapatan is my birthplace where my father got his first posting and my mother worked as a criminal lawyer,” said Mukul. She is the daughter of former woman law minister Shashi Dutta in the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government in 1993. Her father Som Dutta is a retired Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS) officer.
Her husband, a 2009 batch IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre, was allegedly hassled by the incumbent BJP government and was transferred as SP from Bundi district after he arrested over a dozen members of saffron outfits accused of rioting in Nainwa region. He was even served a charge-sheet by the Raje government.
She was apparently unhappy with the current regime and hence decided to take on it by fighting the elections.
Raje is a strong contender of Jhalarapatan as she has not lost since she has started contesting from there in 2003. Sachin Pilot’s mother, Rama pilot, Ex Congress MLA, Mohanlal Rathore and Ex MLA, Meenakshi Chandrawat have lost to Raje in 2003, 2008 and 2013 assembly polls respectively.
BSP, who is ready to fight the elections alone in the state, has named Ghayas Ahmad Khan as its candidate from Jhalrapatan. Other parties are yet to name their candidates from the constituency.
The assembly elections is slated to take place on December 7.