Jaipur’s Last Stand

In 1957, Jai sounded out the Congress chief minister of Rajasthan about a role for Ayesha. In early 1961, Ayesha accepted an offer to stand as a candidate for the free-enterprise Swatantra. On the election trail, Ayesha proved a star campaigner, despite her limited command of Hindi. Ayesha repeated her success in the 1967 and 1971 elections, only to watch helplessly as Indira Gandhi used her parliamentary majority to change the Constitution and abolish the privy purses, sounding the death-knell for India's centuries-old princely order. Thousands of journalists, trade unionists and politicians were thrown into jail - including Ayesha and her stepson Bhawani Singh, who had become the Maharaja of Jaipur after Jai's death in 1970. Ayesha's failing health and a promise that she would refrain from participating in politics led to her release in January 1976 after six months of imprisonment. Ayesha left behind a complex legacy when she died in May 2009, aged 90.