The grand Dholpur Palace is the latest ammunition for the Congress party in its continued offensive against Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
While the Congress has claimed it to be a government property, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has contested that the Dholpur Palace, now popular as the luxurious Raj Niwas Palace hotel, was returned by the government to the royal family.
But what's the issue all about? What's the significance of the luxury hotel that was once a grand palace?
Spread across 13 acre of land, the Dholpur Palace was built to welcome Albert Edward during his visit to India in 1876. It is located in Dholpur town in the eastern part of Rajasthan near the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Dholpur is located at a distance of approximately 240 km from the national capital.
The palace was earlier a protectorate of the British, to be given to the government of India in 1954 after independence. Records with the Revenue Department between 1955 and 2010 show the palace to be government property.
The Dholpur Palace was in the middle of an ugly battle between Raje's estranged husband Hemant Singh and son Dushyant Singh. After almost three decades, the father-son duo reportedly struck a compromise formula in 2007, according to which, Hemant Singh acquired the rights of a property in Delhi while Dushyant got the ownership of the palace in question. Not to forget, this despite revenue department records mentioning the palace as a government property.
Even the official website of the palace-turned-hotel mentions that Dholpur ceased to exist as a princely state in 1956, but it does not talk anything about the ownership of the property in question.
While the Congress has backed its claims with documents procured from the Archaeological Survey of India, the BJP has claimed that the previous UPA government itself had recognised the palace as a property belonging to Raje's son Dushyant.
Reports also suggest that Raje, along with Dushyant and Lalit Modi, had invested money to the tune of Rs 100 crore to convert the palace into luxurious Raj Niwas Palace hotel.
While there appears to be no clarity over the ownership of the palace, the political warzone is certainly abuzz with the controversy over the royal British era building, which flaunts of a unique blend of Rajasthani and European architecture.
The palace has eight royal palace rooms and as many as 18 luxury villas. It also has a business centre with state-of-the-art facilities and technologies.
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