Rajasthan royals to battle it out on the poll field

Like previous years, Rajasthan will see scions of former princely families in the Lok Sabha battlefield with all four in the fray this time being sitting MPs.
Congress has fielded three royal scions while BJP one.
In Jodhpur, Congress candidate and Union minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch, daughter of former Maharaja Hanwant Singh, is pitted against BJP's Rajput candidate Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Another Congress candidate and Union minister, Jitendra Singh is contesting from Alwar, which is among the five of the 25 constituencies going to polls on April 24. Polling in 20 consistencies will be held on April 17.
In Kota, scion of erstwhile Kota royal family Ijeyaraj Singh is in the fray. He is the son of Maharao Brijraj Singh and joined politics in 2009 before the elections.

An alumnus of Mayo College, Ijeyaraj, who pursued higher studies in the US, looks after the assets of the Kota royalty.

Dushyant Singh, son of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and a member of former Dholpur royal family, completes the list. He is contesting to retain Jhalawar-Baran constituency.
Katoch won the Rajput dominant constituency in 2009 by a margin of 98,329 votes and securing 53.06 per cent of total polled votes. She became the Union minister of culture in 2012.
The 70-year-old Katoch, married into royal family of Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, has been active in politics for over four decades and has also been cabinet minister in Himachal Pradesh government besides holding other important posts.