Rajasthan polls: Will royalty rule again?

Rajasthan is known as the land of kings and royalty, and its residents, especially those who have been living here for generations, are known to be loyal to the erstwhile royal families of their region.

This is one of the major reasons why descendants of the royal families play a key role in swaying the political dynamics of the state during election time – this year December 7.

Both major parties – the ruling BJP and opposition Congress – like always have left no stone unturned while placing their “royal” candidates strategically for the Assembly polls.

From the BJP, a total of four candidates belong to the erstwhile royal families, while the Congress has given tickets to three such candidates.

The royal line-up

The chief ministerial candidate of the BJP and also the current incumbent, Vasundhara Raje, hails from the erstwhile Scindia royal family of Bhopal. She was married to the former king of Dholpur, Hemant Singh, and is contesting from the Jhalrapatan seat in Jhalawar. She has won the Vidhan Sabha election three times from here.

Manvendra Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Jasol, has been placed opposite Scindia on the Jhalrapatan seat by the Congress. Singh is the son of former cabinet minister Jaswant Singh, who is also known to be a founding member of the BJP.

The BJP has also given a ticket to Krishnendra Kaur ‘Deepa’ who belongs to the royal family of Bharatpur. She has been fielded from Nadbai and is contesting elections for the sixth time, having won the seat three times.

“I have always been among the public, so the residents of Bharatpur connect with me. I do not believe in caste discrimination, or discrimination based on family background. I have lived my life as any other commoner in Bharatpur,” ‘Deepa’ told Asia Times.

In contrast, Vishvendra Singh, cousin of Krishnendra Kaur, is contesting elections in Deeg-Kumher on a Congress ticket. Singh recently told Economic Times that he dreams of bringing the water of Chambal river to the residents of his constituency.

Another BJP candidate from an erstwhile royal family is Siddhi Kumari, a native of Bikaner. Known to be a “missing face”, she has been an MLA twice from the Bikaner-East seat. According to a report in The Times of India, she is known to make few appearances in public.

The fourth royal placed by the BJP is Kalpana Devi from the royal family of Kota. Devi is the wife of former Congress MP Ijyaraj Singh, and is contesting from Ladpura seat in Kota. She shares the royal legacy with Vishvendra Singh from Bharatpur, who happens to be her cousin.

The Congress has kept the religion bias aside and also fielded AA Khan alias Durru Miyan, who belongs to the erstwhile Muslim royal family of Alwar and will contest from Tijara seat in the district.

He served as the health minister in the former Congress government in Rajasthan but landed up as the second runner-up in the previous Vidhan Sabha elections.

‘Diminishing aura’

Inakshi Chaturvedi, an Associate Professor in University of Rajasthan’s Department of Political Science, points out the positives and negatives of having royal candidates in the fray.

“The plus point is that they have all the means and measures to win the election as they are in constant touch with the public, and are well-versed politically and socially. New party leaders learn all this through experience, which takes time,” she says.

“The negative is that the families have ruled the public in the past, but not in a sensitive manner. The attitude of commitment and service towards the people has always been missing. This is not there among the new political leaders, who are seen to be willing to be available for the public,” she adds, pointing out that “tickets have been given to members of royal families in the past as well, but their aura is slowly diminishing”.

Notably, some members of the erstwhile royal families, who were fielded in the past and even won seats, have not been given the green signal by the parties this time.

Diya Kumari, granddaughter of Maharani Gayatri Devi, who hails from the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur, is one such candidate who has been given the miss this time by the BJP.

Diya had contested from the Sawai Madhopur seat in the last election and won handsomely. However, several incidents this year showed that relations between her and CM Raje were sour, especially after the Jaipur Development Authority sealed Rajmahal Palace, a property owned by the royal family of Jaipur, as part of an anti-encroachment drive.

Diya has, time and again, denied allegations of bitterness and insisted that it was she who refused to be fielded again.

Other former royals not given a ticket include Rajeshwari Rajya Lakshmi from Jaisalmer and Rukshmani Kumari from Chomu.

‘The commoners’

Political analyst Prakash Bhandari traces how some of the royals came to join political outfits after Independence and as India underwent changes.

"The Ram Rajya party, an outfit of princes and landlords, was founded in 1948 but dissolved later, with many of its members joined the ruling Congress or the Jana Sangh. In 1959, the princes and zamindars under the leadership of Maharani Gayatri Devi returned by floating Swatantra Party, which too dispersed after 10 years,” he explains.

According to Bhandari, the princes lacked political acumen and could not shed their lifestyle. They also realised they couldn't identify themselves with the masses and people's perception about them was poor.

“But later, after the dissolution of Swatantra Party, various princes and Thakurs joined either the Congress or BJP, thereby getting a banner under which they could become people's representatives or remain in politics,” he adds.

“They do not hold importance as an ex-royal these days,” Bhandari says. “They are now ruled by the principles of the various political parties and are just like any other commoner.”

Words: 980