BJP candidate in Amethi, Garima Singh (C), with daughters Shivya (L) and Mahima. Photo: R.S. Gopan/OnmanoramaAmethi: “Who gave you journalists the right to call my mother a former wife?” Mahima Singh was red with rage at the mention of the curious fight between the two women in her father’s life. Her mother Garima Singh is the BJP’s candidate in Amethi while the Congress has picked Ameeta Singh, for whom Raja Sanjay Singh abandoned Garima.
“Do you have any idea about Hindu marriage laws? A man can have only one wife. My mother Garima Singh is the legal wife of Raja Sanjay Singh. The other woman is just a lover,” Mahima said.
Ameeta Singh has been a controversial figure in Amethi royalty ever since she was courted by Sanjay Singh. The raja had been accused of murdering Ameeta’s former husband, eight-time national badminton champion Syed Modi. The former union minister was acquitted of all the charges in 2009.
Mahima, Sanjay Singh’s older daughter, has returned from San Francisco to help her mother fight the assembly election. Her sister Shaivya and brother Anand Singh are with her.
At 62, Garima is far from a firebrand leader. This is her debut in electoral politics. She does not make any efforts to capitalize on the injustice meted out to her by her husband and her rival candidate. Her children, however, make sure that the episode is not forgotten.
Mahima agrees to talk on one condition: her mother will not be referred to as the raja’s former wife, like the north Indian media sometimes do.
She has a point. Sanjay Singh never secured a legal divorce from Garima. He has been trying to break the marriage ever since he started to see Ameeta 28 years ago. He managed to get an ex parte divorce order but the Supreme Court nullified it. So Garima stays Sanjay Singh’s legal wife.
Garima is the niece of former prime minister V.P. Singh. Here in Amethi, she is referred to as a rani because she married the raja.
Garima and her children has not staked claim to Sanjay Singh’s properties. They fear that Ameeta might usurp all the assets. After all, she had been chosen as his political successor in Amethi.
Another picture from Garima's poll campaign. Photo: R.S. Gopan/OnmanoramaThe BJP’s game plan is clear. The party expects to cash in on the rift in the royal family. The party leaders had a prize catch in Garima, the aggrieved rani. They could even field her against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in the next Lok Sabha election.
Whatever the outcome, the BJP has scored brownie points by getting the wives of the Congress campaign committee chairman face each other in public.
Onmanorama caught up with Garima when she took a break from the hectic campaign for a quick lunch in the house of a supporter in the Tal village. She said the Congress and Samajwadi Party workers were barring her from meeting the local press. At least two public meetings had to be canceled as her opponents intimidated the people, she said.
The rift in the family, however, may not be enough to develop a crack in the Congress bastion with a considerable Muslim population. Nobody thinks Garima has a chance despite her image as a victimized wife and the glamorous presence of her princesses in the campaign trail.
