Clashes at Udaipur Palace over dispute between head of Mewar family and cousin, 3 injured

At least three people were injured in clashes that broke out in Udaipur on Monday after BJP MLA Vishvaraj Singh and his supporters were denied entry to the City Palace, which is managed by his cousin and uncle Shreeji Arvind Singh Mewar.

Vishvaraj Singh was anointed as the head of the erstwhile royal family at the Chittorgarh fort on Monday morning, following the death of his father Mahendra Singh Mewar earlier this month.

The row broke out when Singh, after the coronation ceremony, went to the temple of the family deity Eklingnath and the City Palace in Udaipur for rituals, where he was detained.

After they were stopped from entering the City Palace, clashes broke out between the two sides and stones were thrown when Vishvaraj Singh’s supporters tried to storm the gates of the palace.

Visual footage from the ground showed Vishvaraj Singh’s supporters chanting slogans and gathering in front of the City Palace.

Earlier in the day, the coronation ceremony was also overshadowed by the ongoing dispute between Mahendra Singh Mewar and his estranged younger brother Arvind Singh Mewar, who issued a legal notice against Vishvaraj’s planned visit to the temple of the family deity Eklingnath and the city palace in Udaipur as part of rituals.

Both the temple and the palace are under the control of Arvind Singh, who is the chairman and managing trustee of Shree Eklingji Trust in Udaipur.

On Sunday, November 24, the City Palace management trust issued two public notices stating that Vishvaraj Singh was not a member of the trust and that unauthorized persons would not be allowed to enter the palace museum on Monday for security reasons.

Anticipating the law and order situation, the police set up barricades and heavy police force was deployed outside and in nearby areas of the City Palace.

But when Singh was denied entry to the palace, his angry supporters broke the barricades and tried to approach the gates of the city palace.

Talking about the clashes, Vishvaraj Singh condemned them as unjust to prevent the performance of royal rituals.

Senior police officials, Udaipur District Magistrate Arvind Poswal and SP Yogesh Goyal spoke to Vishvaraj Singh and his supporters and tried to resolve the issue. They also talked to Arvind Singh’s son, but the talks were inconclusive.

Meanwhile, Udaipur police, asked about the law and order situation in the area, wrote in a post on X: “Police officials along with armed forces are present at the spot, the situation is under control.”