Udaipur: Clashes broke out and stones were pelted outside the City Palace, Udaipur, in Rajasthan, on Monday night after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Rajsamand, Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, and his supporters, were denied entry to the palace.
This came hours after Vishvaraj Singh was anointed the titular head of the erstwhile royal family of Mewar, after the death of his father Mahendra Singh Mewar earlier this month.
However, a cloud of a feud between Mahendra Singh Mewar and his estranged younger brother Arvind Singh Mewar, the descendants of Rajput king Maharana Pratap, hung over the occasion.
Videos, widely shared on social media, showed a tense situation outside the Udaipur Palace.
Another video showed Vishvaraj Singh Mewar sitting outside the gate of the palace with his supporters.
A heavy police force was deployed to control the situation after stones were pelted from inside the palace.
According to news agency PTI, Vishvaraj Singh was denied entry to the palace after his uncle, Arvind Singh, issued a public notice against the newly anointed royal family head’s planned visit to the Eklingnath temple of the family deity and the City Palace in Udaipur as part of rituals of the royal ceremony.
Both the temple and the palace are under the control of Arvind Singh, the chairman and managing trustee of Shree Eklingji Trust in Udaipur.
As Vishvaraj Singh was denied entry, his supporters attempted to intrude on the barricading but were stopped by the police.
After being denied entry, Vishvaraj Singh proceeded to Jagdish Chowk with his supporters, barely a few metres away from the City Palace.
UDAIPUR PALACE CLASH: POLICE ACTION
Meanwhile, senior police officials, including District Collector Arvind Kumar Poswal and Superintendent of Police (SP) Yogesh Goyal spoke to Vishvaraj Singh and his supporters and tried to pacify them.
They also spoke to Arvind Singh’s son. However, the talks remained inconclusive.
Later, talking to the media, Poswal stated that the situation was under control.
“The law and order situation is well under control. Talks were going on with palace representatives as well as the society representatives. We have agreed on certain issues, while talks are still going on for certain others,” he said.
Poswal further mentioned that the district administration has taken the disputed Dhuni Mata Temple site into receivership.
“The district administration has moved to take the disputed site of Dhuni Mata Temple into receivership. If either of the two groups wants to register a case, it will be registered,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
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