Bhubaneswar: Nivritti Kumari Mewar recently accompanying the BJP state Mahila Morcha delegation to Raj Bhavan here has set tongues wagging about possibilities of her joining politics.
She is the daughter of BJP state legislature party leader K V Singh Deo.
From the royal family of Patnagarh in Odisha’s Balangir, Nivritti is married to Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur. She studied hotel management in Switzerland.
However, she is not a member of the saffron party, whose Odisha unit KV earlier headed. His wife Sangeeta Singh Deo is a two-time BJP MP.
With the BJP marshalling all its resources to woo voters of Odisha with an eye on the 2019 assembly elections and party president Amit Shah’s 120+ target, her recent visit to Raj Bhavan has led to speculation about Nivritti being the next royal scion to join politics and contest the upcoming elections.
KV, however, tried to downplay the whole incident.
Speaking to Odisha Bytes, the senior BJP leader said, “Since the driver was with me at the party office, Nivritti drove her mother to the Governor House. She was visiting us for a few days and so accompanied her mother.”
Interestingly, KV stays with his family very close to Raj Bhavan. His residence is less than 100 metres away.
When prodded further about Nivritti’s plans to join politics, he said it was entirely her decision. “She is currently based in Rajasthan. It is up to her to decide whether she wants to join politics and where to contest the elections from,” he added.
On earlier occasions, Nivritti had campaigned for her parents during elections.
In 2014, 14 members of erstwhile royal families were on the campaign trail, as Odisha simultaneously voted for both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
Members of royal families had contested Balangir, Kalahandi and Kandhamal Lok Sabha seats in addition to several assembly seats. The BJP had fielded three royals.
In Balangir, members of the same family were pitted against each other with Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo (BJD) taking on his own sister-in-law, Sangeeta. Kalikesh’s father AU Singh Deo is a veteran politician and a former Rajya Sabha member from BJD. His youngest son, Arkesh, is waiting to make his political debut.
On the other side of the Balangir palace, KV had fought the nearby Assembly seat of Patnagarh against Prakriti Devi Singh Deo, the wife of one of his brothers.
