Re-entry of the Royal Wadiyar lineage; Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar joins active politics

After a stretch of 20+ long years, among the heirs of the Wadiyar, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar appears to be stepping back into active politics for the Mysuru Lok Sabha on 13th March.

Since the defeat of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, a four-time MP, in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections for the Mysuru constituency, the royal family gradually faded from the political landscape.

Srikantadatta initially contested as a Congress candidate in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and won. He secured reelection as a Congress candidate in 1989. Later, he switched to the BJP for the 1991 elections but was unsuccessful against Congress candidate Chandraprabha Urs. Returning to Congress, he won in 1996 and 1999. After his third-place finish in the 2004 elections, the royal family stayed away from politics.

Following Srikantadatta’s passing in 2013, his wife, Pramoda Devi, declined invitations from political parties, focusing instead on legal matters concerning the family’s properties.

As Srikantadatta had no children, Pramoda Devi adopted Yaduveer, grandson of Gayathri Devi and the eldest daughter of the last Maharaja of Mysuru, Sri Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, and sister of Srikantadatta. In 2015, Yaduveer, son of Tripura Sundari Devi and Swarup Anand Gopal Raj Urs, was formally named Yaduveer Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar in a ceremony at Mysuru Palace.

Yaduveer, aged around 32, with a degree from the University of Massachusetts, is married to Trishika Kumari Wadiyar from the Dungarpur royal family of Rajasthan. Trishika Kumari’s father, Harshavardhan Singh, previously served as a BJP Rajya Sabha MP.

Though the royal family’s return to politics after twenty years is notable, Yaduveer’s candidacy for the BJP is a significant test, as no member of the royal family has previously won elections under the party’s banner. Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar had lost his only BJP candidacy in 1989. However, Yaduveer’s entry into the electoral arena for the BJP comes at a time when both the constituency and the central government have been under the party’s control for two consecutive terms.

[Image Source: starofmysuru]