Jaipur royals take protest to streets

JAIPUR: Riding in an open jeep, the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur led a rally through the city’s streets on Thursday in the first public protest against the Jaipur

JAIPUR: Riding in an open jeep, the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur led a rally through the city’s streets on Thursday in the first public protest against the Jaipur Development Authority’s sealing of the Rajmahal Palace hotel gates.

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Rajmata Padmini Devi, along with her grandson Padmanabh Singh and son-in-law Narendra Singh, greeted the crowds from Tripoliya Gate to Rajmahal Palace, a distance of about 7km.

However, the Rajmata’s daughter, BJP MLA Di ya Kumari, stayed away from the rally.

The rally was organised after an appeal by Padmini Devi to the people of the city to come out in support of the royal family against the injustice of the Jaipur Development Authority.

Addressing the crowd at the palace, Padmini Devi said, “Injustice has been done to us. We have not taken any government land. You can’t lock the door of someone’s home… But the officials have not bothered to see our legal papers.”

Rajput Karni Sena leader Lokendra Singh warned the government that if the seal on the palace gates was not broken in 24 hours, the organisation would call for a Jaipur bandh.

Padmini Devi added that the family would fight a legal battle and go to the Supreme Court if necessary.