Bangalore:

Mysore royal scion Yaduvir Krishnadatta Chamaraja Vaidyar will foray into electoral politics as the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded him as its candidate in the Lok Sabha segment of Mysuru, replacing the sitting MP Pratap Simha.

On May 28, 2015, the 31-year-old Yaduvir, who was educated in the United States, was crowned as the titular head of the former Mysore royal family, making him the 27th “king” of the Wadiar dynasty.

Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, the widow of Srikantha Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, the last descendant of the Wadiyar dynasty, adopted Yaduveer Gopal Raj Urs as they did not have any children, after which he was renamed Yaduvir Krishnadatta Chamaraja Vaidyar.

Yaduveer enjoys playing guitar and Saraswati Veena. He holds a BA in Economics and English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA. He is the grandson of Princess Gayatri Devi, the eldest daughter of the last Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar.

Yaduveer is interested in history, plays tennis and is a horse racing enthusiast.

His wife is Trishika Kumari Wadiar from the royal family of Dungarpur, Rajasthan. Trishika’s father Harshavardhan Singh is a member of the Rajya Sabha of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Politics is not new to the Mysore royal family. The previous successor, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadir, represented the Mysuru Assembly constituency four times but lost once.

Srikantha Datta remained with the Congress for most of his life, but also had a brief stint in the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Srikantadatta’s father Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar was the last Maharaja of Mysore and served as Rajpramukh/Governor after Independence.

In the ancient Mysore region (southern Karnataka), the royal family still enjoys considerable respect and affection. A political analyst said Congress’ attacks on Yaduweir may have been tempered as a result.

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