Gurugram: Aarti Rao, daughter of Union minister of state Rao Inderjit Singh and BJP candidate from Haryana’s Ateli, defeated her nearest rival Attar Lal of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) by a narrow margin of 3,085 votes. Anita Yadav of the Congress came in third by a wide margin of over 27,000 votes.
Aarti represents the third generation of a prominent political dynasty. Her grandfather, Rao Birender Singh, served as the second chief minister of Haryana, and her lineage traces back to Rao Tula Ram, a renowned freedom fighter and Yaduvanshi Ahir chieftain of Rewari from 1838 to 1857.
A graduate from Delhi University, Aarti Rao is an international rifle shooter and has represented India for 18 years in international events.
Rao Inderjit Singh, who made the switch from Congress to BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had intended to launch Aarti’s political career in both 2014 and 2019. However, his plans did not materialise as the BJP did not grant her a ticket for either election.
“My plans to plunge into electoral politics are 10 years old now. However, it didn’t happen as the party didn’t field me in 2014 and 2019. But this time, I am going to contest come what may. I had already announced this in a public meeting in 2021,” Aarti Rao told ThePrint in July this year.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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