The Hindu : National / Elections 2004 : Why Kerala's royals won't be voting

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Friday, Apr 30, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

Why Kerala's royals won't be voting

Gouri Parvathi Bayi

N.J. Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Members of the Travancore royal family will not go to the polling booths to exercise their franchise for the Lok Sabha elections this time too. This is perhaps one of the country's few royal families that have not voted in any elections so far.

The decision not to cast the vote is not due to a lack of faith in democracy. The family has a reason to offer. It says that the State Government has so far failed to provide members of the family with an exclusive facility for casting their votes. The head of the family, Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma, and his elder sister, Karthika Tirunal Gauri Lakshmi Bayi, are not exactly in the pink of health and want to avoid standing for long hours in the queue in front of the polling booth.

The Travancore royals are also aware that the Government has been only too willing to provide the desired facilities for the royal family of Kochi to exercise their franchise.

The issue had come to the notice of the Government much earlier, but no action was taken to set right the anomaly. This is despite the fact that the Travancore royals have donated land and buildings to the Government for various causes. The Salvation Army School before the Kowdiyar Palace stands on land donated by the family. The palace has also ceded land for a public dispensary near its sprawling premises. Setting up an exclusive booth in any of the buildings donated by the family is not a difficult task for the Government, but not considered by it so far.

The State Election Commission has issued voter identity cards to the family members. But the cards are full of errors. Despite furnishing all the necessary information to the authorities concerned, the dates of birth and other pertinent details have been wrongly reproduced in the cards. This was taken up with the revenue officials concerned but no remedial action has been taken. The officials merely told them that ID cards were not imperative and they might as well produce passports or any other valid document as identity proof. But the royal family wants to avoid the possible embarrassment of being pulled up by election officials for furnishing wrong information.

It was only recently that a Minister made caustic comments about the family for failing to discharge its civic duties by staying away from the polling booth. Earlier, another prominent leader had made an attempt to kick off a row over the Temple Entry Proclamation issued by the late Chithira Tirunal Balarama Varma on November 12, 1936. These pronouncements of the politicians have made the family only more wary, and are hence unwilling to enter into a controversy by joining issue with politicians.

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