Royalty may have been abolished in independent India, but the scions of former princely families continue to rule in their region via the political route.
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two big states going to polls in the November-December, have over a dozen former princes and princesses representing their erstwhile states as legislators and members of Parliament.
Maharani DivyaThe latest to take plunge in party politics is 42-year-old princess Diya Kumari of Jaipur who joined the BJP at the party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally in the state capital on September 10. Diya inherits the legacy of her glamorous grandmother queen Gayatri Devi, one of the founders of the Swatantra Party that tried to challenge the political monopoly of the Congress during the 60s and early 70s. Rajmata Gayatri Devi represented the Jaipur Lok Sabha constituency thrice at a stretch between 1962 and 1971. If or not Diya would be able to earn people's trust like her grandmother would be known only after she contests either the Assembly elections or the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Jaipur that has a considerable number of Rajput voters.
Dushyant SinghFormer royals in Rajasthan, meanwhile, seem to have made a place for themselves in the political set up of the state. The phenomenal rise of Vasundhara Raje - the scion of the Gwalior royals from Madhya Pradesh who was married into the princely family of Dholpur in Rajasthan - in the BJP was a turning point in terms of ex-royals' role in state politics. She led the BJP to its firstever absolute majority in the Assembly in 2003. She was the first chief minister having an exroyal background.
With the Congress losing its strong anti-feudal stance it displayed during the initial decades after Independence, the scions of former princely families find themselves as comfortable in the party as they were in the erstwhile Swatantra Party or are in the BJP.
Scion of Bharatpur's ex-royal Vishvendra Singh and his wife Divya shifted their loyalty from BJP to Congress in the last assembly elections. Yet another royalty to join the Congress was Chandresh Kumari, scion of ex-Jodhpur royals, who won the Jodhpur Lok Sabha seat in 2009 and become a Union minister. Kota's erstwhile prince Ijyaraj Singh won the seat on a Congress ticket in 2009. The adjoining Lok Sabha constituency of Jhalawar is represented by Vasundhara's son Dushyant Singh since 2003 when the seat fell vacant following his mother becoming the chief minister of the state.
MP royals
Madhya Pradesh's political history would be incomplete without the mention of its ex-royal leaders. To begin with, the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior - the Scindias - has been dominating the political landscape of the region since generations. They have won as candidates of national parties, as Independents, and even when they floated a regional outfit.
Jyotiraditya ScindiaSo strong is the hold of the Scindias that while Yashodhara Raje Scindia is a BJP MP from Gwalior Lok Sabha seat, her nephew Jyotiraditya Scindia is a Congress MP from Guna.
Another parliamentary constituency where inheritors of erstwhile principality continue to hold their grip is Raghogarh Lok Sabha seat. The former royals from Raghogarh princely state are Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh and his younger brother Laxman Singh. Jaivardhan Singh, the son of Digvijaya, has also joined the Congress.
Priyavrat Singh, a Congress MLA, belongs to a royal family of Khilchipur while Kunwar Vikram Nati Raja, Maharaja of Chhattarpur, is an MLA from Rajnagar seat. Dhruv Narayan Singh, a BJP MLA representing Bhopal Central seat, is a member of Rampur Baghelan family.
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two big states going to polls in the November-December, have over a dozen former princes and princesses representing their erstwhile states as legislators and members of Parliament.
Dushyant SinghFormer royals in Rajasthan, meanwhile, seem to have made a place for themselves in the political set up of the state. The phenomenal rise of Vasundhara Raje - the scion of the Gwalior royals from Madhya Pradesh who was married into the princely family of Dholpur in Rajasthan - in the BJP was a turning point in terms of ex-royals' role in state politics. She led the BJP to its firstever absolute majority in the Assembly in 2003. She was the first chief minister having an exroyal background.With the Congress losing its strong anti-feudal stance it displayed during the initial decades after Independence, the scions of former princely families find themselves as comfortable in the party as they were in the erstwhile Swatantra Party or are in the BJP.
Scion of Bharatpur's ex-royal Vishvendra Singh and his wife Divya shifted their loyalty from BJP to Congress in the last assembly elections. Yet another royalty to join the Congress was Chandresh Kumari, scion of ex-Jodhpur royals, who won the Jodhpur Lok Sabha seat in 2009 and become a Union minister. Kota's erstwhile prince Ijyaraj Singh won the seat on a Congress ticket in 2009. The adjoining Lok Sabha constituency of Jhalawar is represented by Vasundhara's son Dushyant Singh since 2003 when the seat fell vacant following his mother becoming the chief minister of the state.
MP royals
Madhya Pradesh's political history would be incomplete without the mention of its ex-royal leaders. To begin with, the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior - the Scindias - has been dominating the political landscape of the region since generations. They have won as candidates of national parties, as Independents, and even when they floated a regional outfit.
Jyotiraditya ScindiaSo strong is the hold of the Scindias that while Yashodhara Raje Scindia is a BJP MP from Gwalior Lok Sabha seat, her nephew Jyotiraditya Scindia is a Congress MP from Guna.Another parliamentary constituency where inheritors of erstwhile principality continue to hold their grip is Raghogarh Lok Sabha seat. The former royals from Raghogarh princely state are Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh and his younger brother Laxman Singh. Jaivardhan Singh, the son of Digvijaya, has also joined the Congress.
Priyavrat Singh, a Congress MLA, belongs to a royal family of Khilchipur while Kunwar Vikram Nati Raja, Maharaja of Chhattarpur, is an MLA from Rajnagar seat. Dhruv Narayan Singh, a BJP MLA representing Bhopal Central seat, is a member of Rampur Baghelan family.
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