Jaipur: A few hours after the coronation ceremony of Nathdwara MLA Vishvaraj Singh, the scion of the illustrious Mewar dynasty, the Rajasthan government on Tuesday seized a part of the City Palace, which remains disputed among Mewar family members.

The officials had to act tough after the dispute between the erstwhile royals of the Mewar family turned ugly, leaving many injured in stone pelting on Monday night. Eventually, Vishvaraj Singh returned to his abode without performing some rituals at the palace, which he wanted to do, and asked his followers to return home.

Stone pelting started at this site on Monday night when two parties, one representing Vishvaraj Singh’s camp and another from his uncle Arvind Singh Mewar, came face to face.

Vishvaraj Singh, after being anointed as the ‘king’, was to follow a ritual of visiting Udaipur City Palace for ‘Dhuni Darshan’ as per the tradition of the Mewar family. However, this place was owned by his uncle who got the doors of the palace shut before the arrival of Vishvaraj.

This left the latter’s followers infuriated. They gathered in large numbers outside Udaipur City Palace.

Monday marked the first instance of such a conflict among the descendants of Maharana Pratap. The unexpected turn of events led to the administration seizing the disputed place and appointing a receiver around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

The dispute arose following the coronation of Vishvaraj Singh after the passing of Mahendra Singh Mewar. Vishvaraj Singh, following tradition, sought to visit the Dhuni inside the City Palace. However, his uncle’s family, residing in the City Palace, objected to his visit, sparking the dispute.

Despite the transition to democracy, the symbolic ritual of anointing the elder son of the late Mahendra Singh Mewar, Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, was performed. This tradition, still observed in many erstwhile royal families, was carried out during the Dastur (Rasm) programme at Fateh Prakash Palace of Chittorgarh Fort.

After the coronation ritual in Chittorgarh, Vishvaraj Singh reached Udaipur City Palace for Dhuni Darshan as per the Mewar tradition. However, the gates to the City Palace (entering from Rangnivas and Jagdish Chowk) were closed. Six vehicles of Vishvaraj Singh Mewar’s convoy reached Jagdish Chowk. Here, the supporters tried to remove the barricading.

At 1:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Vishvaraj Singh Mewar left Lalghat for his palace Samorbagh and asked his supporters to return home. On the other hand, the Collector confiscated the disputed part of the City Palace and appointed a receiver on it as no consensus was reached.

The District Magistrate (City) confiscated the disputed site and appointed the Ghantaghar Police Station Officer as receiver. The Police Station Officer, while reporting the entire incident to the District Magistrate, cited the deterioration of law and order.

Udaipur City Palace was closed Monday morning as Vishwaraj Singh’s programme to visit City Palace was fixed.

On October 3, there was a controversy over President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the City Palace. On visiting the City Palace, Rajsamand MP Mahima Kumari and her husband and Nathdwara MLA Vishvraj Singh raised questions, stating that she should have desisted from the visit as it is under litigation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

–IANS