Arjun Singh

Bhopal, Feb. 22: Supporters of Arjun Singh are lobbying for a Congress ticket for his daughter Veena in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Veena, mother of Aishwariya Singh who married princess Devyani of Nepal, wants to make her political debut from the Satna seat in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewanchal region.

Her name was discussed at Friday’s All India Congress Committee meeting in Delhi, and awaits clearance from Sonia Gandhi.

Sources said the state’s satraps — such as Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Suresh Pachauri — did not oppose Veena’s candidature, perhaps eyeing similar concession for their own favourites.

Scindia has another reason to back Veena — Devyani is his cousin.

Congress sources here are speculating why the Arjun camp is promoting his daughter, a political rookie, instead of looking to get his son Ajay upgraded from MLA to MP.

Ajay, known as Rahul Bhaiya, is Congress MLA from Churhat. In the December 2008 Assembly polls, he was the lone Congress winner from the 30-odd Assembly seats in Rewanchal, once considered a party citadel.

Some Congress leaders have been citing Ajay’s absence at the Aishwariya-Devyani wedding to suggest that father and son are not on the best of terms.

The Arjun camp is working hard to smooth the path for Veena, who has not been part of the Congress organisation although she has been an office-bearer with the party’s labour arm, Intuc.

Veena faces a struggle in Satna, which was represented by Arjun in 1991 before he suffered a crushing defeat in 1996. Since then the Congress has not won the seat and, in the Assembly polls, lost all the segments that fall under it.

The party, therefore, has inducted Phool Singh Barriya, a rebel Bahujan Samaj Party leader who wields influence in the region.

Besides, a possible deal between Arjun and former state Speaker Sriniwas Tiwari could help Veena.

Tiwari is lobbying for a ticket for son Sunderlal, a loser in the 2004 general election, from Satna’s neighbouring constituency of Rewa. If Arjun can marshal Thakur votes for Sunderlal in Rewa, he can expect Brahmin votes for Veena in Satna.

Arjun and Tiwari are not the only strongmen pushing their relatives in Madhya Pradesh. In Vidisha, Hazarilal Raghuvanshi is seeking nomination for son Om. Raghuvanshi himself had lost in the Assembly elections.