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India's former kings

find careers in democracy

KHAIRAGARH, (India): Nearly 50 years after independence ushered in a republic, India is finding it hard to shake off royal influence.

Descendants of princes and feudal lords from small states that made up British-ruled India are finding new careers in politics in the world's most populous democracy.

Some families stay in power, passing on their seats in parliament much as they did their titles in their feudal past.

Devwrat Singh, a lawmaker in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, won the seat in the princely state of Khairagarh ruled by his grandfather, after it was vacated by his mother who died last year.

His grandmother and grandfather held lower house, or Lok Sabha, seats in the 1950s. His uncle is a sitting member of parliament.

"When a person from a royal family runs, people think he is capable because they (royals) are supposed to have been doing it for sometime," Singh told Reuters in his Khairagarh drawing room, flanked by two stuffed tigers hunted by his grandmother.

Six of the 40 candidates being fielded by Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao's ruling Congress party in the state of Madhya Pradesh in the general elections, which began on Saturday, are from erstwhile princely families.

The state chief minister Digvijay Singh is from a former noble family.

Other parties have royal blood as well.

Former Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh is still called Raja Saheb -- in effect, lord or prince -- even though he champions a leftwing alliance led by his Janata Dal party.

Former human resource minister Arjun Singh, leader of a breakaway Congress faction, rode a chauffered limousine when he was a feudal lord, but is now called a socialist.

Former civil aviation minister Madhavrao Scindia is addressed as the Maharaja in Gwalior, though his present preoccupation is to form a liberal democratic alliance.

The Scindia family ruled vast tracts of central India and was part of the Maratha empire which fought the Moguls.

Scindia rebelled and formed a regional group against Rao after being denied a Congress ticket because he was facing charges in a corruption scandal.

He denies the charges, and is tipped to win from Gwalior because of his family's influence in the area.

His mother -- still called Rajmata, or Queen Mother -- and sister are seeking re-election from nearby areas for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"There is a big feudal effect even now," Mahesh Srivastava, editor of the Dainik Bhaskar daily, told Reuters in Bhopal.

"They (the royals) still have a grip on the system. Education has not spread, and (poor) low-castes and tribals dominate the voting pattern."

But politicians say that it is increasingly difficult for royals to hold on to their seats.

"Some old people may care for that, but the new generation does not care for royal blood," said Hamid Ali, a political activist in Bhopal.

Ajay Singh, son of Arjun Singh, says that members of feudal families have to work hard to stay afloat in politics.

"Lots of feudal lords and rajas have no say now. If you are for them and do something for the have-nots, then you are something," he told Reuters.

Devwrat Singh said there is a price to pay for electoral power if it is won with royal charms.

"We cannot act like normal politicians. People expect more from us," he said. "They tell me: Your grandfather did this, your grandfather did that."

"They expect us to give away things."-Reuter