The shine is gone, however the stealth stays. This might be true for the royals of Chhattisgarh — the Maharaja and plenty of Rajas of the tribal heartland. The state, which obtained its identify from its standing of having “Chhattis Garh” or 36 forts, housed an identical quantity of historic dynasties — many of them have been tribal kingdoms of Gond Rajas.
Post-Independence, Congress obtained a foothold in the closely forested and minerals-rich Bastar by way of one such extremely influential royal household. The first Congress MLA from Bastar was its Maharaja, Pravir Chandra Bhanj Deo. A non-tribal by origin, he was generally known as the mightiest tribal chief and king from the area. Following a bloody historical past of an alleged state-conspired killing of Pravir Bhanj Deo, Bastar and Chhattisgarh as an entire witnessed extreme political turbulence.
In 2000, when the state was carved out of Madhya Pradesh, it obtained its identify from the custom and customary historical past of the royals — Chhattisgarh. However, twenty years or extra down the line, many royal households began disintegrating as there was no inheritor or protégé. The quantity has now gone down by 1/third. Going by the knowledge out there with the present royal households and historians, the state now has 12 royal households, 9 of that are straight or not directly related to politics.
The ongoing election is now seeing no less than six candidates who’re associated to or related to royal households. While three members or associates of royal households have been fielded by the BJP, three are both direct descendants or associates of royals fielded by Congress.
The royal households of Chhattisgarh, in contrast to the ones of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, are related with their erstwhile tribal topics by way of their conventional affect and aura. The state has no less than half-a-dozen Gond or tribal royals and all political events attempt to woo them for the sway they’ve over the tribal inhabitants.
Royal Rajneeti
Of these 12 households, the state of Bastar and Jashpur royals have been with the BJP, whereas royals of Surguja, Khairagarh, Kawardha, Kanker, Raigard and two others have remained with the Congress. Bastar’s 12 seats, which voted on Tuesday, have been the epicentre of political turbulence and energy shift.
According to the election knowledge and the documentation by author-historian Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, Congress gained from 5 in 1957 to eight seats in 1972. Between 1977 and 1993, Congress obtained 11 seats in 1985 and BJP later recovered to get eight seats in 1993. Between 1998 and 2018, the shift occurred from Congress to BJP but once more. Congress obtained 11 seats in 1998, whereas BJP wrested the identical from Congress in 2008.
Speaking to News18, Prasad stated: “Of all the royal families, Bastar Maharaja was the mightiest and most motivated as a tribal leader. However, his relationship with then prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi deteriorated post-Independence. Congress started losing ground as Maharaja Pravir Bhanj Deo, who was the first party MLA from Bastar, formed his own outfit, naming it Maharaja Party.”
He added: “Deo was dethroned by the government by issuing a special gazette and his brother Vijay Singh Bhanj Deo was made the king in 1962. Four years later, in 1966, Pravir Bhanj Deo was killed in his own palace by police. DP Mishra was the chief minister and Indira Gandhi was the PM then.
“Since then, the connection between royal families and politics has been strange and to some extent, strained. There was no stability. The king was murdered for the sake of politics. The Bastar royal family since then was never associated with Congress, but families like the Sarguja royals, who are related with Bastar, have always stayed with Congress,” stated Prasad, who has written 22 books on Bastar and about the Chhattisgarh’s tribals.
High Stakes
The state’s present deputy chief minister TS Singh Deo belongs to the Surguja royal household. The Khairagarh royals had Devwrat Singh as a Congress MP. Later, he joined Janta Congress and have become an MLA in 2018. He died later as an MLA. His relations are, nonetheless, nonetheless with Congress. Two relations of the Judevs of Jashpur have been fielded as candidates by BJP. Bastar king Kamal Singh Bhanj Deo’s candidate Kiran Dev has been fielded by the BJP.
Bastar’s royal household is believed to be the richest and largest royal household in the state. It used to have 18 seats and eight districts in undivided Madhya Pradesh. Now, it has seven districts and 12 meeting seats below their erstwhile royal state. The 38-year-old king Kamal Singh Bhanj Deo studied in London School of Economics and now is a crucial member of the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his palace final month and provided prayers in the household’s temple of Danteswari Devi.
“Our forefather, Maharaja Pravir Chandra Bhanj Deo, was a tribal leader. Tribals used to see him as their god. He was killed as Congress felt he was trying to build a Hindu Rashtra. Since then, our family has always been called a royal family that wants to make its own tribal kingdom. At times, we were also termed as the one that wants to build a Hindu Rashtra. We could never associate with Congress since then,” Kamal Singh Bhaj Deo advised News 18.
Every royal household of Chhattisgarh has its personal equations with the energy centre and so they determine on their alignments accordingly. However, as of now, extra households stay aligned in direction of Congress, he added.
In Khairagarh, Rani Padma Devi Singh is a senior member of Congress and busy with the marketing campaign of Congress candidate Yasodha Verma. “Verma is senior leader of Congress and she is supported by the royal family. Majority of Chhattisgarh royals have always associated with Congress because the party has a link with people. BJP is a party of capitalists, businessmen and industrialists. They do not want to protect tribal rights,” stated Padma Devi at her residence, flanked by native Congress leaders.
