Chhattisgarh polls: Realms long gone, but royals' undiminished popularity keeps them in hunt for power

Raipur: In October, Chhattisgarh Youth Commission chairman Kamal Chandra Bhanjdeo—also the 22nd king of Bastar—was listening to the problems of mukhiya, manjhi, chalkin and memrin (these are different posts in society of tribals) at a muria darbar organised in the district. “In older times, we used to listen to the problems and solve them immediately,” Bhanjdeo said. The darbar is a mere annual tradition now observed during the Dussehra festivities where tribals from across Bastar region congregate to pay respect to the royal family and sort out their disputes. [caption id=“attachment_5481911” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  TS Singh Deo at his Ambikapur residence. Image courtesy: Suneet[/caption] The meetings in October came against the backdrop of speculation that Bhanjdeo might clinch the BJP ticket from Bastar for the upcoming Assembly elections to be held on 12 and 20 November. The rumours were put to rest on 20 October after the BJP declared Santosh Bafna as its Bastar candidate. Bhanu Pratap Deo, the ruler of tribal-dominated Kanker kingdom, became an MLA in 1951 and 1962. The heirs of Kanker state were dispelled from power and politics after the seat was reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Pravir Chandra Bhanj Deo, the ruler of Bastar estate who championed tribals’ rights, became a legislator from Jagdalpur in 1957 but unsatisfied with the working of the party, resigned by 1959. Pravir Chandra had realised the need for a national tribal outfit to counter the ruthless exploitation of Bastar’s resources by the state at the time. His organisation led nine candidates whom he supported in the then Assembly of the undivided Madhya Pradesh. Pravir Chandra was killed in police firing on the steps of his palace along with many tribal men, women and children on 25 March, 1966, leading to the withdrawal of the royal family of Bastar from active politics. Now, descendants of Pravir Chandra, the family of Kamal Chandra Bhanjdeo, son of last Maharaja Bharat Chandra Bhanj Deo (1970- 1996), who joined the BJP during the 2013 Lok Sabha elections are active in state politics. Going into the present Assembly election in Chhattisgarh, the Leader of Opposition TS Singh Deo, a descendant of the royal Sarguja estate, is one of the front-runners for the chief ministerial position in the state Congress. Realm gone, but rule remains “Gone are the days when kings and queens were born to womb. There is an end of princely estates. TS Singh Deo has been a king. Then, why doesn’t Congress declare him as a candidate for the post of chief minister?” asked Ajay Chandrakar, Chhattisgarh panchayat minister. TS Deo, however, said the constitutional way to elect the leader of the state government is to have a unanimous representative selected by the legislators who make it to the Assembly. Congress will follow this process, he added. While the royal tribal families in Chhattisgarh may have lost their states after Independence, the power they exert in these regions is still formidable and thus they are hence entwined with electoral politics. From Sarguja to Bastar, the maharajas continue to hold the reigns in state politics. “In Chhattisgarh, most princely estates made their place in politics through hard work. Being from a royal family does not guarantee special treatment,” political analyst Brajendra Shukla said. Sarguja with Cong, Jashpur for Sangh In 1951, Ramanuj Saran Singh Deo, the ruler of Sarguja—the largest princely state of Chhattisgarh—became the first MLA of the region. Later, his wife, Maharani Devendra Kumari contested the polls on Congress ticket and became a legislator and minister. Umeshwar Saran Singh Deo and Maharani Devendra Kumari Singh Deo were active in politics. However, in 1957, the Lok Sabha constituency and most of the Assembly seats in Sarguja were reserved for Scheduled Castes, thus removing the royal family from the race. When the Assembly seat of Ambikapur constituency in Sarguja division was unreserved in 2008, the Congress party turned towards the royals again, fielding TS Singh Deo who defeated BJP’s Anurag Singh Dev by 980 votes. In 2013, TS Singh Deo repeated his win against Anurag Singh Dev with a huge margin of 19,558 votes. Following his massive victory, Deo was made the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly. The Singh Deo family is not the only royal family to dabble in politics successfully. King Nareshchandra Singh of Sarangarh estate became the MLA from Sarangarh in the first election of 1951 and repeated his success thrice thereafter. He was also the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for 13 days in 1969. His daughters Kamla Devi, Rajnigandha and Pushpadvevi Singh also joined politics, with Pushpadevi going on to serve in Lok Sabha. Currently, Dr Parivesh Mishra, son-in-law of late Nareshchandra—who married his fourth daughter Menaka Devi—and his daughter are in active politics from this family. Ram Chandra Singh Deo of the Koriya royal family also successfully contested the Assembly polls in 1967 and became the minister of 16 departments in the government. He won six elections and held various important ministerial posts: including being the first finance minister of Chhattisgarh. Opposing the distribution of liquor in elections, he later retired from electoral politics. After his demise in July, his niece, Ambika Singh Dev, entered the election fray from Baikunthpur constituency on a Congress ticket. Vijay Bhushan Singh Deo of Jashpur royal family was elected first as an MLA from Jashpur in 1952 and 1957 and later as an MP from Raigarh in 1962. Dilip Singh Judeo, son of Vijay Bhushan, who had been in active politics since the Jan Sangh days, is among the most popular leaders hailing from Jashpur royal family. He had started a programme against the alleged conversion of tribals in this area and used it to enter politics. In 1989, Judeo won the Janjgir Lok Sabha constituency only to lose in 1991. Later, BJP made him a member of the Rajya Sabha and he served as a central minister as well as a member of the state cabinet. While Judeo was one of the front-runners for chief ministerial position, he was pushed to the sidelines after being involved in a bribery scandal where he was allegedly heard saying: “Money is not God but not less than God.” He was later elected from Bilaspur and died of illness in 2013. After his demise, Ranvijay Singh Judev (nephew of Dilip Singh Judeo) was made the Rajya Sabha MP from the vacated Rajya Sabha seat while Dilip Singh Judeo’s son Yudhveer Singh Judev has been a two-time legislator from Chandrapur seat. In the 2018 Assembly polls, BJP has nominated Yudhveer’s wife Sanyogita Singh to contest from the Chandrapur seat. The princely state of Khairagarh is divided into several political camps, but the seat has remained among the heirs of the princely state in nine Assembly elections, with Rashmi Devi Singh winning the Khairagarh seat four times and her son Deovrat Singh winning it thrice, apart from Raja Bahadur Birendra Bahadur Singh, who became Khairagarh legislator in the first Assembly elections held in 1951. The author is a Raipur-based freelance writer and a member of  101Reporters.com