Old rivals clash for Rajasthan's Nagaur LS seat as I.N.D.I.A. candidate Hanuman Beniwal takes on BJP's Jyoti Mirdha

Beniwal will again face Jyoti Mirdha, someone he had contested against in 2019. Jyoti was then a Congress candidate. This time the table have turned, with Beniwal as the I.N.D.I.A. bloc's candidate and Jyoti contesting on a BJP ticket.

Jaipur: Hanuman Beniwal, one of the most influential Jat farmer leaders in Rajasthan, is the I.N.D.I.A. bloc candidate from the Nagaur Lok Sabha seat. Congress has left the Nagaur seat for Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP).

Candid and straightforward, Beniwal has a good following amongst the youth and farmers. A four-time MLA in Rajasthan and MP from Nagaur, the 52-year-old career politician has a significant family legacy too — his father, Ramdev Choudhury, was a two-time MLA from Mundwa constituency in Nagaur district in 1977 and 1985 and was active in the cooperative movement too.

Beniwal started his political journey by getting involved in student politics. With a law degree and a diploma in cooperative, he was elected president of Rajasthan Law College Students’ Union in 1995 and became president of Rajasthan University Students’ Union in 1997.

He first contested the Assembly polls from Mundwa in 2003 as an Independent candidate but lost by a slim margin. In 2004, he was elected to the Nagaur Zilla Parishad by a record margin. In 2008, he was elected to the Assembly from Khinswar on a BJP ticket. Later he was suspended from BJP in 2013 for levelling corruption charges against Vasundhara Raje and her colleagues.

In 2013, he contested as an Independent and won the seat. Just before the 2018 Assembly polls, he organised five Kisan Hunker rallies in Nagaur, Bikaner, Barmer, Sikar, Jaipur which drew huge crowds and showcased his popularity. He then launched his own political party RLP in 2018, which managed to win three seats in the Assembly polls. He won his third Assembly seat as a RLP candidate.

In 2019, he won the Nagaur Lok Sabha seat with the support of BJP. However he parted ways with the BJP after the farmers’ protest in 2020. In the last Assembly polls in 2023, he secured the Khinswar seat for the fourth time.

Beniwal however is a slippery ally, jumping from one ship to another. He has often said that both Congress and BJP indulge in corruption and are not bothered about welfare of poor, youth and farmers. He says his party RLP has been formed to fight the system and change it from within. His party’s symbol a 'bottle' signifies “transparency in its functioning.”

Beniwal is a tough and plain-speaking politician. He was the first one to overpower the intruders who released yellow gas in the Lok Sabha in December 2023. After the incident, he said, “Herogiri unki uttar di (The wannabe heroes were taught a lesson)."

Beniwal had also tried to scale the Lok Sabha Speaker's podium as Opposition members raised slogans against the government over the security breach.

This time, for the Nagaur Lok Sabha seat, he will again face Jyoti Mirdha, someone he had contested against in 2019. Jyoti was then a Congress candidate. This time the table have turned, with Beniwal as the I.N.D.I.A. bloc's candidate and Jyoti contesting on a BJP ticket.

Beniwal has a long running rivalry with Jyoti.

Who is Jyoti Mirdha?

Jyoti Mirdha, 51, belongs to the politically powerful Mirdha family in Nagaur region. She is the granddaughter of influential Congress leader Nathuram Mirdha, who was the party’s face for a long time and was the only leader to win his seat in 1977 despite the Janata Party wave.

Jyoti, a doctor by profession was the Congress MP from Nagaur in 2009. However she lost the seat in both 2014 and 2019. In 2019, she lost to Hanuman Beniwal , whom she facing again in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

Jyoti was made to contest the Nagaur Assembly seat in 2023 but lost to her uncle and Congress candidate Harendra Mirdha.

Jyoti’s track record of losing elections does not bode well for the BJP. The saffron party’s only intention to induct her may be the need for a credible Jat leader in the region to counter Beniwal.

Her political legacy of hailing from the Mirdha family may not be enough as its influence seems to be waning amongst the young Jats as most of the Mirdhas have migrated to the cities and Delhi especially losing touch with the ground realities. With a known bitter rivalry between the two candidates, it remains to be seen, how does this contest plays off.