Tehri (Uttarakhand): The royal family of Uttarakhand's princely state Tehri Garhwal, which acceded to India on August 1' 1949, have a strong political hold on the constituency.
In the first Lok Sabha election that took place in 1952, Rajmata Kamalendumati Shah contested as an independent candidate from Tehri Lok Sabha constituency and won.
She was elected as the first woman MP from Tehri.
The last king of Tehri kingdom King Manvendra Shah contested on Congress ticket in 1957 and won the seat. He occupied the seat from 1962 to 1967.
In 1991 the king contested on BJP ticket and for the first time, the party registered its win on Tehri Lok Sabha constituency. From 1991 to 2004, he remained the MP from the seat.
In the year 2007 by-election, Congress candidate Vijay Bahuguna won from the seat. He was elected as the MP in 2009 from the seat.
Manvendra Shah had registered his winning on the said constituency nine times from Congress ticket and seven times from BJP ticket which clearly indicates that more than a political party the royal family matters to the people of Tehri Garhwal.
With an aim to maintain the political hold on Tehri, Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, daughter-in-law of the erstwhile Tehri royal family, has filed her nominations as the BJP's candidate from Tehri Lok Sabha constituency for the upcoming polls.
Shah first won the seat in a by-poll in 2012 defeating Congress' Saket Bahuguna, son of former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna. She won it again in 2014 against the same opponent.
It will be interesting to watch whether the people of Tehri Garhwal, who are said to be loyal to the royal family, will show their loyalty in the upcoming polls or not.
