The district administration has appointed a receiver to oversee a controversial portion of Udaipur's City Palace following tension over Vishvaraj Singh, the new ceremonial head of the erstwhile royal family, being denied entry.
The receiver's appointment came after supporters of Singh clashed with those of his paternal uncle Arvind Singh Mewar, who controls the City Palace, late on Monday.
BJP MLA Singh was on Monday anointed titular head of the erstwhile Mewar royal family at a ceremony in Chittorgarh fort following the death of his father Mahendra Singh Mewar earlier this month. After his anointment, Singh was scheduled to go to City Palace to have darshan of the "dhuni (a religious place)" and then visit the Eklingnathji temple.
However, Arvind Singh Mewar, who controls City Palace and, by extension, the dhuni and the temple -- prevented Singh from entering. Through his lawyer, Arvind Singh Mewar had published two public notices in local newspapers on Monday and warned of legal action against trespassing.
A heavy police force was deployed to control the situation after stones were pelted from inside the palace.
According to news agency PTI, Vishvaraj Singh was denied entry to the palace after his uncle, Arvind Singh, issued a public notice against the newly anointed royal family head’s planned visit to the Eklingnath temple of the family deity and the City Palace in Udaipur as part of rituals of the royal ceremony.
Both the temple and the palace are under the control of Arvind Singh, the chairman and managing trustee of Shree Eklingji Trust in Udaipur.
As Vishvaraj Singh was denied entry, his supporters attempted to intrude on the barricading but were stopped by the police.
After being denied entry, Vishvaraj Singh proceeded to Jagdish Chowk with his supporters, barely a few metres away from the City Palace.
Police action
Meanwhile, senior police officials, including District Collector Arvind Kumar Poswal and Superintendent of Police (SP) Yogesh Goyal spoke to Vishvaraj Singh and his supporters and tried to pacify them.
They also spoke to Arvind Singh’s son. However, the talks remained inconclusive.
Later, talking to the media, Poswal stated that the situation was under control.
“The law and order situation is well under control. Talks were going on with palace representatives as well as the society representatives. We have agreed on certain issues, while talks are still going on for certain others,” he said.
Poswal further mentioned that the district administration has taken the disputed Dhuni Mata Temple site into receivership.
“The district administration has moved to take the disputed site of Dhuni Mata Temple into receivership. If either of the two groups wants to register a case, it will be registered,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
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