Rajasthan: It's Mirdha vs Mirdha in Nagaur this time

Nagaur, a part of the Marwar region of Rajasthan, has been the political domain of the Mirdha family for a few decades.

It was Baldev Ram Mirdha, the father of late Union minister and deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha Ram Niwas Mirdha, who enlightened the farmers of the region. A police officer in the erstwhile princely state of Jodhpur, Baldev Ram advocated for literacy. He not only had his children educated, but his cousins as well—including Nathu Ram Mirdha, the stalwart in Rajasthan politics and favourite leader of the Jat community.

So well did Ram Niwas give the lie to the too-oft repeated communal stereotype that he came to be known as the padha-likha Jat , though his cousin Nathu Ram Mirdha was also a law graduate.

The two Mirdhas were cousins, and at one time, when Nathu Ram was a minister, Ram Niwas Mirdha served as his personal secretary before himself becoming a legislator. Later, he served as the Speaker for the Rajasthan Assembly for two terms. Then in 1967, he became a Rajya Sabha member and served for five terms. During this period, he served as a Union minister holding various portfolios, and also served as the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

However, in 1984, the party asked Ram Niwas Mirdha to contest the Lok Sabha election from Nagaur against his own cousin Nathu Ram, who was the Lok Dal nominee now, having deserted the Congress. It was the first time that Ram Niwas contested for a Lok Sabha seat—and yet he defeated Nathu Ram by 48,000 votes.

Now, Nathu Ram was still the tallest leader of the Jats. He has served as a Congress president too. (He returned to the fold after the Janata Dal government fell at the Centre.)

After 39 years now, the Mirdhas will be facing each other in an electoral battle again.

Harendra Mirdha, son of Ram Niwas and a former minister, has been fielded by the Congress to contest against Dr Jyoti Mirdha, who is Nathu Ram's granddaughter and quit the Congress barely two months ago to join the BJP (and was duly rewarded with a ticket). Jyoti is a former member of the Lok Sabha and is married to Narinder Gehlaut of Indiabulls.

The Mirdha family have dominated the politics of the Jatland of Marwar region, and of Nagaur in particular. They have so far largely been Congress loyalists, bar the brief period when Nathu Ram deserted to the Lok Dal and then the Janata Dal, before a prodigal's return.

The Nagaur seat has been won by the Congress 10 times, always by a Jat or a Muslim leader. There are 2.64 lakh voters in the constituency, and the Jats and Muslims are both in high numbers here. It is for this reason that a former Congress minister, Habibur Rahman—who was also elected once from this constituency on a BJP ticket—is contesting as an Independent here too.

Rahman is banking on the Muslim votes only, and though there are over 30,000 Muslim voters, that may not be enough for him to win.

“The Muslims here vote for a candidate who could win. Habibur Rahman used to be popular, but as he lost his popularity, the Congress was forced to field Harendra Mirdha, who lost two consecutive elections. There was no other formidable candidate to field. But it is likely that Harendra Mirdha will prove stronger than Jyoti Mirdha, as the voters here did not like her joining the BJP.” said Aslam Khokhar, a contractor.

In Nagaur district, as many as four Mirdhas are in the fray, from three out of the nine constituencies. Two brothers — Tejpal and Vijaypal — are the sons of former MLA Richpal Mirdha.

Vijaypal Mirdha is the sitting Congress MLA from Degana, where he will face the BJP rebel Yunus Khan, a former BJP minister who was denied a ticket by the saffron party this time. He has won the seat in the past.

The fourth Mirdha, Tejpal, will lock horns with the leader of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), Hanuman Beniwal, who is a BJP member of the Lok Sabha. He was elected from Nagaur constituency in 2018, defeating Jyoti Mirdha when the RLP was in alliance with the BJP. But this time, the BJP has chosen to go it alone, hence Beniwal's RLP ticket.

Hanuman Beniwal is a firebrand leader and is considered an arch-rival of the Mirdha clan. He was elected to the Rajasthan Assembly thrice from Khnvasar, and after he got elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019, his brother won the by-election from this constituency too.

And that brings us to another interesting story—that of the 'lesser parties' who could swing the balance...