JAIPUR: The
Hada Rajputs
of Rajasthan’s
Bundi
have selected their 26th “king”, choosing decorated soldier and mountaineer
Brig Bhupesh Singh Hada
to become the community’s titular head after Ranjit Singh, the son and successor of their last king,
Col Maharao Raja Bahadur Singh
, died childless in January 2010.
He will be “crowned” on Sunday at a temple in Bundi, a former princely state that merged with India in 1948.
Brig Hada was decorated with the
Shaurya Chakra
for anti-terrorist operations in 1999 and the Vishisht Seva Medal for commendable work in the
Siachen Glacier area in 2019.
His achievements have been prolific — he has commanded the Siachen Brigade, was an
NSG commander
, had scaled Mt Everest and Mt Lhotse, and he has been a paratrooper and a combat underwater diver.
The community decided to choose their king following an impasse over inheritance that kept the Hada Rajputs without a crown for almost 12 years. Ranjit Singh, the son and successor of the last
Bundi king
, was the maternal uncle of former Union minister and Congress functionary Jitendra Singh of Alwar. Singh is locked in court battles with Avinash Chander Chanana over ownership of the erstwhile royal family’s properties.
Property disputes involving Ranjit Singh’s relatives kept the king’s title in abeyance all these years. Parleys with the erstwhile Kota royals, considered Bundi’s big brother, too failed to break the deadlock.
The community constituted a "Paag committee" to search for a suitable successor among its members. "Paag" is the turban tied to the successor upon a family head’s demise. "We invited nominations through a social campaign, saying the Bundi Hada community’s ‘Paag’ must get a worthy head. After several meetings and deliberations, a couple of names were shortlisted, which included Shivendra Singh Kapren and Brig Hada," said Arihant Singh, the Paag committee spokesperson. We announced the name (Brig Hada) on December 4," Singh said.
The Paag committee, however, clarified that the new king wouldn’t "lay any claim on the former Bundi royal families’ properties".
Brig Hada explained the relevance of the title: "It is ceremonial and titular. The person donning the Paag of Bundi is head of the Hada Chauhan clan and ex officio head of all Kshatriyas of Bundi." He referred to a Kerala high court ruling of 2013 that "there was nothing unconstitutional in using royal titles because the 26th amendment in 1971 scrapped the ex-kings and their successors’ rights and privileges, not titles".
The primary purpose of having a king, according to Brig Hada, is to "keep the community united and help preserve our history and culture by keeping the tradition alive".
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