Himadri Singh and BJP’s ST panel chief Narendra Singh Marawi in their engagement ceremony.

BHOPAL: They say love knows no barriers and a politician couple in Madhya Pradesh is out to prove that arranged matches don’t either. Himadri Singh — the daughter of Congress stalwarts and a candidate in the Shahdol bypoll last year — is tying the knot with BJP leader Narendra Singh Marawi, who cut his teeth against Himadri’s mother in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and lost.

What makes it even more interesting is that Himadri is projected as Congress’ young, tribal face in MP. The soon-to-be ‘BJP bahu’ is the daughter of long-time Congress MPs Daljit Singh and Rajesh Nandini Singh and was fielded in Shahdol in 2016. She was wooed by BJP as well before the bypoll, but stuck with Congress and gave a tough fight to BJP veteran Gyan Singh. Though BJP won, Himadri cut down the victory margin from 2.41 lakh votes in 2014 to 59,000.

Marawi, on the other hand, is chairman of the MP Scheduled Tribes Commission, and had fought against Rajesh Nandini Singh in 2009. He lost by 13,415 votes. Speaking to TOI, Marawi said, “I contested the polls against Himadri’s mother in 2009 and lost. It was quite some time ago and it did not even cross my mind then that I would one day get married to Himadri. She lost her father at a very early age and her mother passed away in May last year.”

The couple engaged on June 8 and the marriage is fixed for November 23. While Himadri is 28 and a postgraduate from Delhi University , Marawi, 39, is a mechanical engineer and was Anuppur district president for Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. “I am a BJP worker and will remain so for the rest of my life,” he said.

And what about Himadri? Will she switch loyalty? “Don’t look at it this way. Every girl gets married,” she pleaded. “My father and mother worked for Congress. Ever since childhood, I have only seen the Congress party around me. But after mother’s death, my guardians decided that I have to marry. It was a family decision and a totally arranged marriage. Politics will not be a hindrance in our marital life,” Himadri told TOI over telephone.

“There will be no change in political loyalty. I will work for Congress and do exactly what the party high command tells me,” she said. Will her soon-to-be husband accept this? Marawi said, “The decision is Himadri’s if she wants to continue working for Congress. I will not interfere.”

