Former Royals Hit Out At Rahul Gandhi Over ‘Plaint Maharajas’ Remark

Royal scions across India criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for referring to their ancestors as “plaint Maharajas", who were threatened by the East India Company that ruined the nation, saying he had a “superficial understanding of history". They also pointed out Rahul’s “selective amnesia" that made him forget the privileges he enjoyed due to his lineage.

Leading the attack, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said Gandhi's "colonial mindset" crossed all limits, while Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and erstwhile Jaipur royal family member Diya Kumari said the Congress MP had no knowledge of history.

In a post on X, Scindia, whose ancestors ruled Gwalior, said Rahul Gandhi's "selective amnesia" made him forget the privileges he enjoyed due to his lineage. "Those who sell hatred have no right to lecture on Indian pride and history. Rahul Gandhi's ignorance about Bharat's rich heritage and his colonial mindset has crossed all limits," Scindia tweeted. The Union Minister, who was once a close aide of the Raebareli MP, said India's legacy doesn't begin or end with the title "Gandhi".

Diya Kumari, the granddaughter of Man Singh II, the last Maharaja of Jaipur, accused Gandhi of attempting to malign the erstwhile royal families of India and divide society. "The dream of integrated India was only possible because of the utmost sacrifice of the erstwhile royal families of India. Baseless allegations made on the basis of half-baked interpretation of historical facts is completely unacceptable," the Deputy Chief Minister said. She also upped the ante against Rahul Gandhi while campaigning for the upcoming by-polls in Rajasthan and called for boycotting the Congress.

The backlash came after Gandhi, in an opinion piece in The Indian Express, said that the East India Company choked India by "partnering with, bribing, and threatening pliant maharajas and nawabs. "We didn’t lose our freedom to another nation; we lost it to a monopolistic corporation that ran a coercive apparatus," Gandhi wrote.

Vishvaraj Singh, the current MLA from Rajasthan's Nathdwara and a member of the erstwhile Mewar royal family, questioned if it was "ignorance or intentional misrepresentation".

Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, a scion of Udaipur's Mewar family, said royal families have always been a protector of their people and have played an essential role in shaping India's economic, cultural, and political landscape.

Vikramaditya Singh, a former Congress leader and the grandson of Maharaja Sir Hari Singh, who was the last ruler of the Indian princely state of Kashmir, and the heir of the Dogra dynasty, said- the article reflected Gandhi's superficial understanding of history.

Chaitanya Raj Singh, a member of the family that ruled the erstwhile Kingdom of Jaisalmer, called Rahul Gandhi’s claims “baseless".

Yaduveer Wadiyar, Mysore MLA and a royal scion from the Wadiyar dynasty, said Rahul Gandhi’s lack of knowledge of true history is on constant display, adding that he condemned his “choice of words in the article and the insinuations made by him".

Shrimant Gayatri Raje Puar, a BJP leader who was married to the late Maharaja of Dewas Senior Tukoji Rao Pawar, said, “I condemn Rahul Gandhi’s editorial defaming India’s Maharajas, who were pillars of Sanatan Sanskriti.