Unrest is brewing in Jhunjhunu district against the machinations of Jat leader and Union Minister Sis Ram Ola. Politicians cutting across the political spectrum allege that the dirty politics of the Jat veteran was responsible for their leaving the Congress as he doesn’t want to see anybody other than his family members to grow politically in the district.
The anger is not just brewing among the Congress leaders but the BJP leaders also consider him to have influenced their political careers in the region.
Apart from Rajkumar Sharma and Rita Choudhary, the two sitting MLAs who were denied party tickets allegedly at the behest of Ola, Sumitra Singh of BJP also lashed out at Ola for playing petty politics.
Already Rajkumar Sharma, a minister in the present Congress government representing Navalgarh alleged Ola of blackmailing the high command and had threatened to resign from the party if he was given ticket.
Sharma had joined the Congress from BSP after the last elections. Denied a ticket from Mandawa, Rita Choudhary expressed her anguish at Ola’s family politics. She said, “Ola has compelled leaders such as Sumitra Singh, Sunderlal, Bhanwar Singh to quit Congress.”
Rita Choudhary also focused her ire at Ola, terming him to be brewing the political death of PCC chief Chandrabhan (Congress candidate from Mandawa).
She also said that Ola has deceived Chandrabhan, promising him to be next Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
Both of them have joined the fray as independents after quitting Congress. Meanwhile, Sumitra Singh of BJP also accused Ola of compelling her to leave Congress. “Now again he has forced me to quit BJP by fielding a weak candidate against his own son Brijendra Ola in Jhunjhunu,” said Singh.
Sumitra Singh has decided to openly challenge the BJP candidate from Jhunjhunu against party candidate Rajvir Singh Shekhawat as an independent.
At a meeting in Jhunjhunu on Sunday, Sumitra Singh, enthused by large gathering, openly challenged both the BJP and Congress candidates.
Sumitra Singh had won for an unprecedented nine out of 12 terms from Jhunjhunu, seven times in a row for Congress. After being denied tickets allegedly at the behest of Ola, she left the Congress and won the 1998 election as an independent before joining BJP and became the first woman speaker of Rajasthan legislative assembly.
Focusing her ire at BJP high command, Sumitra said the party has ignored those who worked to root out Congress from this region.
Calling Ola as 'Dhritarashtra' (a blind person in Mahabharata) she gave a call to the people to unite to defeat Ola’s son Brijendra Ola.