Mohit Dubey

She maintained a poise that was rarely maintained by any one else. She had elegance and composure that was rarely matched by any. That was Rajmata of Jaipur Gayatri Devi in life. Barely ten days after her death, her soul must be an agonized one as her family members, the scions of the Jaipur Royalty bicker and squabble over the property left behind by her.

Though power struggle over property is nothing new to Rajasthan royals, what has surprised many is: the timing i.e. not even the traditional ‘terhanvi’ of Rajmata has passed and secondly it is widely perceived that she had left a clear cut will to ensure that there were no disputes.

According to reports emanating from the Pink City, the Rs 1,000 crore property has already triggered a spate of actions that suggest that all was not well. The entry point between the French style built Lily Pool Palace, which was house to the late Rajmata till her last breath, and Rambagh Palace hotel has been sealed by brick and mortar.

The fencing between the two properties largely dividing the the green area have been scaled down and are being removed in an apparent attempt to merge both the estates. The first focus of the ‘merger’ was seen yesterday on the swimming pool side behind the Lilypool where the entrance has been sealed. According to old timers in the pink city this was “done at the behest of the people up in the royal hierarchy”.

This three bigha land is valued at several hundred crore of rupees. After this first step, swords have apparently been put back in the scabbards till August 9 when the will of the Rajmata is likely to be read out. It is interesting to point out to the readers that Gayatri Devi was the third of the queens of Maharaja Man Singh, the last ruler of Jaipur estate. While she seered Jagat Singh (also dead now), Man Singh’s second wife Marudhar Kanwar gave birth to Bhawani Singh, Jai Singh and Prithviraj Singh from the second wife Kishore Kanwar.

Jagat Singh’s widow Priyananda Rangseet is the former princess of Thailand and stays with her son Devraj and daughter Lalitya in Thailand only. The grand children are likely to be the beneficiaries of Gayatri Devi’s fortune. As per the 1957 will of Man Singh, the largest chunk of Man Singh’s empire had gone to Bhawani Singh as he was anointed the Maharaj of Jaipur after his father’s death. Jagat in his will bequeathed his share to his mother Gayatri Devi.

This fortune included Takhteshahi palace based in Motidungri fort, Lilipool, Jaimahal Palace, Rambagh Palace, a house in London, SMS school, Jaipur House in Delhi, Jaipur Palace in Mount Abu, Taj Hotel at Sawai Madhopur, Rambagh staff quarters, Ashok Club Jaipur, Laxmi Vilas Hotel Jaipur and Isheda House amongst others. Soon after Jagat’s death, bitter battle for property had erupted in the family with the divorcee wife of Jagat demanding a share for her children.

Jagat had however anointed Rajmata as the inheritor of his property, something Gayatri Devi overturned later. Meanwhile the widow of Jagat Singh camped in India and sought their share. Gayatri Devi however refused to even give them an audience as a result of which the family went to the courts. There was some rapprochement later and the Rajmata is learnt to have given up her diffidence and invited her grandchildren to meet her.

She is also learnt to have gifted Devraj his father’s Pagdi and sword. Subsequently the grandchildren withdrew the litigation. After the death of Gayatri Devi, Devraj and his sister and mom are camping in Jaipur and the prince has made it clear that he is going to stay here and complete the vision of his grandmother to make the city a better place to live in!

The frantic activity at the Lilypool and Rambagh which resulted in sealing of the entry and other things however do not augur well for the family as observers of the royal clan feel: tamasha abhi baaki hai mere dost!