Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022: What is the tussle between Riva and Nayna Jadeja?

From Jamnagar North seat of the Gujarat, the BJP has given a ticket to cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's wife Riva Jadeja, a newcomer in politics. Ravindra Jadeja is campaigning in full swing for his wife. However, his sister Nayna Jadeja has taken a different route and is campaigning for the Congress candidate Bipendrasinh Jadeja. 

The tussle between the two ladies came to the forefront on Tuesday (November 22), when Nayna Jadeja accused her sister-in-law Riva Jadeja of using children for the campaign. "Riva ba is using children to gain sympathy. In a way, it is called child labour. Senior officials of the Congress have filed a complaint with the Election Commission in the matter," Nayna said while speaking to the reporters at a press conference, India Today reported.

Nayna, in another press conference, alleged that her sister-in-law's official name is Riva Singh Hardev Singh Solanki on the election form.

• "She has kept Ravindra Jadeja's name in the bracket and this is just to use the Jadeja surname. In the six years of her marriage, she did not get the time to revise her name," Nayna said.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg. The two ladies have been at loggerheads since the very beginning of the Gujarat election campaigns.

What is the feud? Nayna Jadeja and Riva Jadeja haven't quite seen eye to eye ever since the two went on to join different political parties.

• In 2019, Riva Jadeja joined the BJP, while Nayna Jadeja and her father Anirudhsinh Jadeja formally joined Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
• While Nayna is an ardent critic of the BJP for failing to live up to the expectations of the people in Gujarat in the last 23 years, Riva Jadeja openly supports the BJP in the state.
• While Nayna maintains that the two don't discuss politics when they meet; indirectly, the two women don't miss a change to take digs at each other.
• In 2021, Nayna had called out Riva for openly flouting Covid-19 norms in a public gathering. During a programme in September 2021, Riva and several other people were not wearing masks. Nayna had then said that those flouting Covid norms would be responsible for the third wave.

Will Riva Jadeja be able to pull it off from the Jamnagar North seat? On her sister-in-law's candidature from the Jamnagar North constituency for the first time, Nayna has previously said that Riva is a newcomer and the people won't vote for someone who is contesting for the first time.

• Though Riva is indeed contesting for the first time, she has been active on the ground for the past few months. She has obtained credible recognition and moreover, the seat is a strong BJP bastion and the party won here in 2017.
• Jamnagar North is one of the 89 seats that will go to polls on December 1. The counting of the votes will take place on December 8.