Raje, Hemant Singh or Govt: Whose Dholpur Palace Is It Anyway?
In Pics: The Dholpur Palace is dripping with luxury, but is it hiding a secret?
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Dholpur was a princely state that ceased to exist after it merged with India in 1956. The Dholpur Palace or The Raj Niwas was built to welcome King Albert Edward in 1876.
Today, it’s a high-end hotel and is run by a company called Niyant Heritage Hotels Pvt Ltd, which is in turn owned by Vasundhara Raje, her son Dushyant Singh, daughter-in-law Niharika Singh and Lalit Modi.
The Congress claims to have documents to prove that the Dholpur Palace was declared government property six times between 1954 and 2010. The party even produced a statement by Vasundhara Raje’s estranged husband Hemant Singh claiming that the palace was not the personal property of the Dholpur family.
The BJP has rejected the Congress’ claims and has claimed that documents show that the Palace was given back to the Dholpur family in 1957 in lieu of other property and land which was given to the state government.
The BJP further claims that in 2007, Dushyant Singh reached an out-of-court settlement with his estranged father. As per the deal, Hemant Singh accepted the Palace as his property being given to his son.
In a bid to prove the BJP wrong, the Congress has produced fresh documents to show that Raje’s son Dushyant Singh and his father had struck a compromise only on the movable properties of the Dholpur Palace. The party stands by its allegation that the early 19th century building belongs to the government.
As an aside, we tried to figure out the tariffs at the hotel, but felt like we were flipping through a luxe magazine with pictures of expensive clothes with a “Price on Request” tag.
But we reckon, if you have enough money to holiday at the Dholpur Palace, you won’t worry about the cost.
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