Kullu: Power knows no kinship. Blood relationships has been shunned as sons of two lording royals actively woo voters in what earlier used to their feudal estate in scenic valley.
Hiteshwar Singh, son of Kullu royal house scion Maheshwar Singh is in the fray from Rela zila panchayat parishad ward in Banjar block and is up against his first cousin Aditya Vikram Singh, who is a son of Karan Singh, a cabinet minister and younger brother of Maheshwar Singh.
Both Maheshwar Singh and his younger brother Karan Singh cut their early political fortunes with BJP but went on seperate patsh after BJP denined a ticket to Karan Singh. He joined the Congress and defeated the sitting BJP legislator Khimmi Ram in the 2012 polls.
Maheshwar, who had remained BJP state president and a BJP parliamentarian, too quit the after in 2012 to float Himachal Lokhit Party, a regional outfit. Like his brother, Maheshwar too is an elected legislator in the current assembly representing Kullu, whereas Karan represents neighbouring Banjar seat.
In the outgoing Panchayat bodies, Hiteshwar Singh was the elected zila parishad member and is seeking a re-election from Rela ward, but his plans have gone wary after his cousin Aditya Vikram has jumped into the fray and is making all efforts to defeat the sitting member.
Those in know of the royal intrigues that plague the Kullu house, what has prompted Aditya to contest from Rela is the suspicion that Hiteshwar is consolidating his position in Banjar assembly segment from where is keen to challenge the domain of his uncle in upcoming assembly polls of 2017.
The election is being keenly watched as there two other candidates Ravinder Pal Singh Rabbu and Inder Dev Shastri in the fray, who may just gain from the vote division the royals will make into the constituents.
A theater artist, a script writer and a TV anchor, news is something that grips Renuka. She lives in Kullu.
I wonder if the two royal fathers and their two rival royal sons have access to the Internet? If so, (and they actually know how to access it!), then surely they must have read Ms Renuka Gautam’s article? Strange that they have not responded, not even one of them? They can’t be all wrong or all right? In Himachal particularly, it is phenomenal how the dozens of erstwhile ‘royals’ manage to get elected so many times without doing an iota of honest work? These ‘royals’ have over the years been able to establish their dynasties and so successfully that even the non-royals have learnt to push their sons into politics, irrespective of party or ideology.