The Indian Express and the Taj hotels recently sent out invitations for an evening with Radhikarajae Gaekwad, described as the ‘Maharani of Baroda’. The Hyderabad Literary Festival saw the launch of a coffee table book on the ‘Nizam of Hyderabad’. The media routinely informs us that the Dassehra festival in Mysuru is hosted by the Maharaja of Mysore. And, Air India would still like us to join the Maharaja Club.
Over half a century ago, in 1969, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi decided to withdraw these titles and stopped the government’s financial contribution to the erstwhile heads of Indian states — called a ‘privy purse’. A bill introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1969 was eventually passed in 1971 as the Constitution (Twenty Sixth) Amendment Act, stating its objective as follows: