Background and family
Sangeeta was born into the minor Rajput nobility of Rajasthan. Her natal family held an estate of five villages of which the largest was Kerote (or Kirot). Her father,Amar Singh,was a younger son and therefore he inherited little,but he entered government service,serving as an officer in the IPS. He retired as PR in-charge at the AIIMS,New Delhi. Sangeeta grew up in a middle class milieu and graduated from Delhi University with a BA in political science.
In October 1985,in a match arranged by their parents in the usual Indian way,Sangeeta was married to Kanakvardhan Singh Deo,son and heir of the former Maharaja of Patnagarh-Bolangir,an erstwhile princely state located in Odisha. The couple settled in Delhi and became the parents of a single child,a daughter named Nivritti. In January 2014,again in a match arranged by their families in the usual Indian way,Nivritti was married to Lakshyaraj Singh,the only son of businessman Arvind Singh Mewar.
Career
Kanakvardhan's father and grandfather had both been active and successful politicians. His grandfather,Maharaja Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo,who had enjoyed absolute ruling power within his state during the period 1933–47,had adjusted very well to democracy after independence,and excelled in politics to the extent of serving as Chief Minister of Orissa during the period 1967-71 as a member of the Swatantra party. Kanakvardhan's father has also been a member of parliament twice. Inevitably,Kanakvardhan was drawn to politics and served for four terms as member for Patnagarh in the Odisha state assembly. The family felt the need to ensure that the national parliamentary seat covering their former kingdom should also be under their control. Kanakvardhan therefore made Sangeeta a member of his party,the Bharatiya Janata Party,and arranged for her to contest parliamentary elections. Sangeeta won the Bolangir Lok Sabha seat in 1998,1999 and 2004 and thus was a member of the 12th,13th and 14th Lok Sabhas. She lost the polls in 2009 and again in 2014 to a member of her own family,her husband's first cousin,Kalikesh Singh Deo,who is a prominent member of the Biju Janata Dal. Sangeeta took third position in the 2009 elections and second place in 2014.
Madhavrao Jiwajirao Scindia was an Indian politician and minister in the Government of India. He was a member of the Indian National Congress. He was viewed as a potential future prime ministerial candidate before the 1999 Lok Sabha elections in the aftermath of the controversy over Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin.
Maharaja Karni Singh ji , also known as Dr Karni Singh, was from 1950 the last Maharaja of Bikaner State to hold the title of Maharaja of Bikaner, officially, until 1971, when the privy purse and all the royal titles were abolished by the Republic of India. He was also a politician, serving as a member of the Lok Sabha for twenty-five years, from 1952 to 1977, and an international clay pigeon and skeet champion.
Kantabanji (KBJ) is a Municipality in Balangir district in the Indian state of Odisha.
Patnagarh is a town and a Notified Area Council in Bolangir district in the Indian state of Odisha. Its original name is Patnāgarh, and it is pronounced verbally as Patnāgad. The official language is Odia. Patnagarh bears historical significance as it was the epicentre of power in middle age. Patnagarh was the capital of 18 garh that come under south Koshal. In 12th century AD the progenies of the famous King of Delhi, Prithviraj Chauhan came and settled down in Patnagarh. They came here because Mohammad Ghori defeated Prithviraj Chauhan in 2nd battle of Tarai in 1193. The first child of the royal scion who ruled Patnagarh as per recorded history was Ramai Deo. However after 16th century onwards when Balangir and Sambalpur came in to being, the city lost its charm.
Preneet Kaur is an Indian politician who served in the Government of India as a Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs from 2009 to 2014. She is married to Amarinder Singh, who was the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. She joined the Congress party, to which her husband also belonged once, and contested parliamentary elections repeatedly from the Patiala constituency. In February 2023, she was suspended from the party for supporting BJP leader and her husband Amarinder Singh and campaigning for candidates of the BJP or BJP-allied parties. She won the elections of 1999, 2004 and 2009, but lost her seat in the elections of 2014 and made a comeback by winning again in 2019.
Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo is an Indian politician who was Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Bolangir and member and leader of the Biju Janata Dal political party.
The politics of Odisha are part of India's federal parliamentary representative democracy, where the union government exercises sovereign rights. Certain powers are reserved to the states, including Odisha. The state has a multi-party system, in which the two main parties are the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the regional, socialist Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The Indian National Congress (INC) has also significant presence.
Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 21 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Odisha state in eastern India.
Mehtab Kaur was the second wife of the ninth and the last ruling Maharaja of Patiala Yadavindra Singh (1913–1974). She was the mother of Amarinder Singh, the former Chief Minister of Punjab. Had it not been for the erstwhile Indian princely families being stripped of their titles in 1971, upon the death of her husband she would have been considered Rajmata, and in popular usage was commonly referred to as such.
Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo KCIE was an Indian politician and the last ruler of the princely state of Patna in Odisha before Indian independence in 1947. He was the President of the Ganatantra Parishad political party from 1950 to 1962 and the President of the Odisha state unit of the Swatantra Party after its merger with the Ganatantra Parishad in 1962. Deo was the Chief Minister of Orissa from 1967 to 1971.
Ananga Udaya Singh Deo, also known as A U Singh Deo is a politician from Odisha, India. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2014 from Odisha.
Diya Kumari is an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party currently serving as the 6th Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan alongside Prem Chand Bairwa in the ministry of Bhajan Lal Sharma. She currently represents Vidhyadhar Nagar as an MLA in the 16th Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. She is a member of Kachhwaha family of the Jaipur State.
Arkesh Singh Deo is an Indian politician from Odisha and a leader of the Biju Janata Dal political party. Arkesh Singh Deo is the youngest son of previous Bolangir MLA Ananga Udaya Singh Deo and grandson of Odisha's former chief minister Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo. His elder brother Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo is also an Indian politician from Odisha and a member of the 16th Lok Sabha, representing Bolangir constituency in Odisha.
Patnagarh is a Vidhan Sabha constituency of Balangir district, Odisha.
Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar is an Indian politician and a royal scion from the Wadiyar dynasty, currently serving as a Member of Parliament for Mysore since 2024. The great-grandson of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, Yaduveer Wadiyar was adopted on 10 December 2013 by Pramoda Devi Wadiyar after the demise of her husband Srikantadatta Wadiyar. He was installed as the titular, "Maharaja of Mysore" in a private ceremony in 2015.
Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo is an Indian politician from Odisha and a member of the erstwhile royal family of Patna, Bolangir. He is serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha as well as Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment, Energy. He is also a member of the National Executive of the BJP.
Raj Raj Singh Deo was an Indian politician and a member of the former royal family of the erstwhile princely state of Patna in Odisha. He was a member of Ganatantra Parishad political party and represented Bolangir loksabha constituency in the 4th and 5th Lok Sabha.
Padmini Devi is the titular Rajmata of Jaipur.
Ananta Narayan Singh Deo was an Indian ruler and politician who served as Member of 9th Lok Sabha from Aska Lok Sabha constituency, 13th Leader of Opposition in Odisha Legislative Assembly from Surada Assembly constituency, Deputy Minister for Industries, Commerce, Community Development and Panchayat Raj in Cabinet of Odisha and Raja of Dharakote Estate.
Maharana Vishvaraj Singh Mewar is an Indian politician and 77th Maharana of Mewar. He is a member of Bharatiya Janata Party and was elected as MLA from Nathdwara constituency. He defeated incumbent C.P. Joshi, five-term incumbent MLA and former Speaker of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha.
