Rajmahal Palace gate sealing: Jaipur royal family to protest against civic body action

On Wednesday, Padmini Devi met various religious leaders, including the Chief Qazi, and sought their support for Thursday’s procession.

The procession will begin at Tripolia, inside the walled city, at 11 am and will move through the city before ending at the Rajmahal Palace, the property where it all started.

“The procession is not against the government but to bring home the point that such gross violation of court orders will not be accepted,” Padmini Devi said.

“This protest is not by the royal family of Jaipur alone but also by the citizens,” she added, appealing to the people to join the rally in large number.

However, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje — who recently returned from the Rajasthan government-sponsored Mountain Echoes, a literary festival in Bhutan — remained mum on the issue.

Last week, BJP MLA and member of the royal family Diya Kumari had reached the spot asking JDA commissioner Shikhar Agarwal to stop the action, showing a court decree that had purportedly ruled in favour of the family with regard to the property.

However, Agarwal said that the land belonged to the government and went ahead with the sealing of gates. This led the royal family to file a contempt of court petition against him and the JDA in a local court.

“I was shocked by the way the action was carried out. The JDA only sent us a notice on Tuesday and before we could even reply, reached the site with bulldozers,” Diya had told The Indian Express following the action. “It was insulting. No one should have to go through something like this,” she had said.