Manpreet Singh Badal’s daughter Rhea Badal engaged to Karan Singh’s grandson Martand Singh; alliance links prominent political families

R K Martand Singh belongs to the erstwhile Dogra royal family. His grandfather, Dr Karan Singh, is a senior Congress leader and the son of Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Kashmir.

Martand’s father is the grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh and the last titular heir apparent of the Dogra dynasty.

Vikramaditya Singh is a former member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council and has had a varied political journey. He joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in August 2015 but resigned in October 2017 from both the party and the Legislative Council over the issue of declaring a public holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh. He later joined the Congress.

Vikramaditya Singh contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Udhampur constituency on a Congress ticket but lost to Dr Jitendra Singh of the BJP. In March 2022, he resigned from the Congress, stating that the party was unable to reflect the “sentiments and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir”. He is not affiliated with any political party at present.

Vikramaditya Singh is a hotelier and serves as the managing director of the heritage Taragarh Palace Hotel in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.

Rhea Badal’s father Manpreet Singh Badal is a former two-time finance minister of Punjab. He is the nephew of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. Manpreet began his political career with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), served as finance minister during the SAD-BJP Government from 2007 to 2011, floated the People’s Party of Punjab in 2011, merged it with the Congress in 2014, and again served as finance minister of Punjab from 2017 to 2022. He joined the BJP in January 2023.

Rhea has graduated in media, culture, and communication from New York University.

Adding another political connection, Vikramaditya Singh’s daughter Mriganka is married to Nirvan Singh, the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.