- Monday, February 24, 2025
Will the Maharaja help in cleaning garbage, the dropped parliamentarian asked after the party denied him a ticket to contest the upcoming elections.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has picked the head of a royal family in the southern state of Karnataka as a candidate for the upcoming general elections and it did not impress the leader, who he replaced.
Pratap Simha, who was the sitting parliamentarian from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency in Karnataka, appeared to take a dig at the royal, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja, saying he was glad that the ‘Maharaja’ would now work as a regular representative of the people, including responding to requests to help in cleaning garbage.
The Wadiyar dynasty of Mysuru is widely revered and one of the most followed royal families in India.
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Simha, whose name did not feature in the second list of candidates that the BJP released on Wednesday (13), triggered a controversy last year for issuing authorisation passes to intruders who entered the popularly elected chamber of the Indian parliament and wreaked havoc by spraying colours.
The matter snowballed it a major row as securities of the MPs were breached and the Narendra Modi government suspended more than 100 opposition parliamentarians after they protested and sought clarification from prime minister Modi and home minister Amit Shah.
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In what seemed to be a sarcastic tone, Simha, 47, said they would be happy if the royal follows the BJP’s protocols of sitting on the ground when the senior leaders are around or wait in the sun to welcome leaders with bouquets or picking them from airports or accompany them at events. He also said that the possibility of the Maharaja willing to help the common people over trivial issues will be a happy thing to witness.
“People call me to help clear garbage and debris. I’m happy the Maharaja will do it now,” he said, according to an India Today report.
Simha, however, praised the royal before his name was announced for the constituency, saying all class differences between the elite and the commoners ceased to exist when India became independent in 1947. He welcomed Yaduveer for choosing to have a stint in politics.
After the royal’s name was announced, Simha said he called and congratulated the former and added that he would begin campaigning for him soon.
Simha was elected from the constituency in 2014 and 2019.
Yaduveer, who will turn 32 later this month, said in Mysuru that his decision to enter politics was not a decision taken overnight and he had been contemplating it for a year, The Hindu reported.
Coronated as the ‘Maharaja of Mysuru’ in 2015, Yaduveer told the media that he has been participating in public activities in his individual capacity for almost a decade now but understood at one point of time that to bring substantial social changes through policies, one needed to be in politics.
