People cheer battle between huzoor and hukum for the ‘throne’

They are cousins, members of the Mewar’s erstwhile ‘royal’ family. The father of Vishwaraj Singh, the Maharana, passed away earlier in November and after the mourning period was over, Vishwaraj Singh (55), a first-time BJP MLA whose wife is the BJP MP, was ‘coronated’ as the ruler on 25 November. Since then, he is addressed as Huzoor, an honorific reserved for the king, by his retinue and followers.

His cousin, Lakshyaraj Singh, is addressed as Hukum, reserved for members of the royal family. Huzoor lives in Samor Bagh Palace and the Hukum in the Udaipur City Palace.

Huzoor’s father was disowned by Bhagwat Singh, the then Maharana in the 1980s but that did not prevent his estranged elder son Mahendra Singh from getting himself ‘coronated’ as the king after the death of his father. He was the elder son after all. They had fallen out after Bhagwat Singh sold some of the property and leased out a few others. He also formed a charitable trust and offered it an endowment that the elder son was unhappy about.

The two branches of the ‘royal’ family of Udaipur have been fighting a court battle over property since then. A lower court in 2020 ruled in favour of equal distribution of the property left behind by Bhagwat Singh among his three children, Mahendra Singh, Arvind Singh and Yogeshwari Kumari. The decision was challenged before the high court by Arvind Singh and his son Lakshyaraj Singh, primarily on the ground that Mahendra Singh had been disinherited by Bhagwat Singh while he was still alive. When Mahendra Singh passed away, Arvind Singh and Lakshyaraj Singh did not attend the funeral, ostensibly because they had received threats asking them to stay away.

When the new ‘Maharana’ Vishwaraj Singh, therefore, arrived at the Udaipur Lake Palace after his coronation at Chittorgarh’s historic Fateh Prakash Palace, the first of its kind in over four centuries, to complete the family ritual by visiting the Eklingji temple inside the palace, palace gates were closed. Some of his thousand-strong followers who had accompanied him tried to scale the wall, ostensibly after being provoked by stones pelted from within by followers of Lakshyaraj Singh.

Tension rose high and police had to use force to bring the situation under control. Lakshyaraj Singh later claimed that his cousin had not sought any permission to visit the temple and that he could not allow so many people to storm his property-- even as Vishwaraj Singh claimed that permission was not required as he was part of the ‘royal’ family. In any case, two days after the skirmish he and four others were allowed to visit the temple.

Tempers have cooled down for the time being but the royal dispute has become the talk of the town and split the people, with some supporting the claim of the new Maharana of Mewar with others sympathising with his cousin. If Lakshyaraj Singh had allowed his cousin to enter the city palace after the coronation, he would be seen as legitimising and accepting the coronation, is the argument offered. Udaipur has been agog with stories around the royal family as people excitedly discuss both the probable and the improbable.

The sprawling Udaipur City Palace, a tourist attraction, has three well known hotels, namely the Taj Lake Palace, Fateh Prakash and Shiv Nivas. Following the stay obtained by Arvind Singh and his son from the court, Lakshyaraj continues to look after the properties and function as the managing trustee of the charitable trust.