Patna: Kamal Singh, 94, the last Maharaja of Dumraon, one of the oldest princely states in India, 75 kms from Patna, died at his Bhojouri Kothi in Dumraon on Sunday morning.
Kamal Singh was the last surviving elected member of the first Lok Sabha. He was elected to Lok Sabha from the Buxar constituency in 1952 and 1957. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has ordered a state funeral for Kamal Singh.
His family told this paper since they were expecting many members of the royal families, the funeral would take place on Monday at Buxar on the banks of the Ganga. His children and grandchildren are married in princely states in Gujarat, Jammu, Madhya Pradesh and Tripura.
Dumraon has a large industrial estate functional for a century and Dumraon made textiles and lantern brands were popular. The two plants were closed due to the shortage of power supply.
Kamal Singh was the president of the Bihar Chamber of Commerce in 70s. Dumraon Maharaj had opened colleges in Ara, Dumraon, Buxar and Ballia in neighbouring UP which formed a part of the princely estate.
He had donated land to establish hospitals at different places in the old Shahadbad region and gifted 15 acres to open a Methodist Church.
In 2017, Dumraon Palace was in the news after the publication of a novel, 'Half Girlfriend' and later the release of a film. The film led to a controversy and royal family of Dumraon filed a defamation suit in the civil court against Chetan Bhagat.
The row ended following an unconditional apology by Chetan. He had filed an affidavit claiming it was a fictional story of a very real life of a royal family. Chandra Vijay Singh, who had filed the defamation suit, claiming damage of Rs1 crore, agreed to screening of the film following apology.
In the novel, Dumraon boy who had gone to study in St Stephen's College, New Delhi, was depicted poor. Protests were held across Bihar by the members of the Rajput community against defamatory depiction of the Dumraon royal family.
