New Delhi: Tehri Garhwal is on the verge of changing its illustrious history. Ever since the country attained independence from the colonial British rule, the erstwhile rulers of this princely state had enjoyed an extended rule through democratic means.
However, as the country is all set to elect its 15th parliament, for the first time, the erstwhile royal family will have virtually no role to play.
Tehri Garhwal, nestling in the Himalayas, has had a chequered history ever since it became the domain of Kanak Pal, who established his rule in the hills in 823 AD. His progeny successfully thwarted attempts by the Mughals, over several generations, to conquer their kingdom.
The British accorded the region the status of a princely state under which the Pal family, which assumed the surname Shah during the Mughal period, continued to rule the hills.
The Shah family's rule continue until 1949 when a popular uprising forced the then King Manvendra Shah, the 60th ruler, to accept Indian sovereignty and merge his kingdom with independent India.
The Shah family rule, however, did not end with that. His mother Rajmata (Queen Mother) Kamlendu Mati Shah emerged winner as an independent candidate in the first Lok Sabha elections held in 1952.
Maharaja Manvendra Shah, as he preferred to be called, saw the wisdom of aligning with the ruling Congress party and won the next three elections in 1957, 1962 and 1967 as the Congress nominee.
However, the then prime minister Indira Gandhi's decision to do away with the privy purse angered Manvendra Shah and a large number of other ex-kings.
A disillusioned Shah broke away from the Congress party and opted out of electoral politics.
However, over the next two decades during which period five Lok Sabha elections were contested, he continued to wield his influence on his erstwhile subjects.
Manvendra Shah returned to parliament in 1991 as a nominee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and held the seat in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004 general elections. He died in January 2007.
The resultant by-election saw Prince Manujendra Shah, who was nominated by the BJP in his father's place, suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of Vijay Bahuguna, a former judge of the Maharashtra High Court and son of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna of the Congress party.
Bahuguna had lost to Manvendra Shah twice in 1999 and 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP this time has decided against fielding Manujendra Shah and replaced him with ace shooter Jaspal Rana, who hails from the state and has won laurels for the country in many international events.
Rana is pitted against Bahuguna, 62, and the battle has assumed the colour of a veteran-versus-youth contest.
Pollsters are expecting a close finish in Tehri Garhwal with Rana, by virtue of being representative of Uttarakhand's ruling BJP, enjoying a slight edge.
