Mysore: The state government may have temporarily pacified the Mysore royal family, but the truce is unlikely to last beyond the Dasara as the Mysore Palace property dispute continues to sour relations between them.
Only recently, Maharani Pramoda Devi had made an emotional appeal to the state government to withdraw the Mysore Palace Land Acquisition and Transfer Act, 1998 and even offered to consider an out of court settlement, but received no positive response from the government. She, however, did not try to push the matter during her meetings with Mysore in-charge minister, V. Sreenivas Prasad, on the Mysore Dasara, according to palace officers.
Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, palace secretary, M. Lakshminarayan denied that the maharani had offered to cooperate with the government in holding the Dasara celebrations only if it gave in on the palace dispute. “Yes, settling of the Mysore palace property dispute is pivotal for the royal family to continue with the Dasara tradition. But Ms. Pramoda Devi didn’t want to link the two. She clearly said that she has never blackmailed the government. Our negotiations with the government over the past few weeks have been over the festivities to be conducted in the palace,” he said.
