Jaipur, Sept. 1: Sometimes, even pavements have their princely moments.

Jaipur, the city with a powerful Rajput lineage, today witnessed a different kind of power struggle in its 289-year history when former princess Diya Kumari decided to take her fight to the streets.

The objective, sources said, was to not only score a political point but also demonstrate the strength of Rajput unity.

The protest followed a public spat with Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) commissioner Shikhar Agarwal on August 24 over a government takeover of 12.5 bighas of land around the family's sprawling property and a stony silence from Rajasthan's BJP chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

Diya Kumari, a BJP MLA who joined the party at Raje's insistence, did not personally take part in the protest. But her 73-year-old mother, Rajmata Padmini Devi, and son Padmanabh Singh, 18, the family's heir, led the march from Tripolia Gate in the Walled City to Rajmahal Palace in the heart of the Rajasthan capital that Sawai Jai Singh built in 1727.

"We are very sad and humiliated. If the high-handedness of government officials could happen to us, what could be in store for the common man? They did not think about our honour. I wish I did not have to do this today," Padmini Devi said.

Political observers suggested that Diya Kumari skipped the rally because she did not want to jeopardise her position in the party, as any untoward comment could have exposed her to disciplinary action.

But several thousand people, including those from Diya Kumari's constituency Sawai Madhopur, traders and Rajput communities from across the state, lent support to the 6km rally in a show of Rajput solidarity.

Raising slogans in support of the royal family, the protesters demanded that Agarwal be sacked, the main entrance of the Rajmahal Palace be opened and that all land disputes be settled mutually or through court agreements.

On August 24, civic officials had come armed with a bulldozer to take possession of the 12.5 bighas, said to be valued at over Rs 1,200 crore, surrounding the Rajmahal Palace, a heritage property inherited by Diya Kumari's son and now run as a hotel by a business group.

The JDA says it acquired the land legally in 1993 and was only taking over what was the government's land.

Diya Kumari, who had rushed to the spot with a court decree, claiming the family's right over the land, had a public spat with commissioner Agarwal. She says Agarwal even refused to look at the court papers.

The state government today came out with a clarification on behalf of the JDA. Urban development and housing minister Rajpal Singh Shekhawat said the government had acquired the two plots under dispute in October 1993 and was taking possession only after having given the required notice. The government has also given compensation for the plots and the amounts had been deposited in court, the minister said.

He said the royal family was talking about a decree but the decree does not talk about these two disputed plots.

The royal family says the decree had stayed the acquisition, but the minister said the Supreme Court had upheld the acquisition.

Many say Agarwal, one of Raje's favourite bureaucrats, may have had her tacit approval for the demolition drive. The chief minister, who left for a four-day trip to Bhutan and a two-day visit to Delhi the same day the drive took place, has not spoken over the issue.

The JDA also sealed four gates of the property, including the main entrance of the hotel, a magnificent 54-bigha facility that in its earlier avatar as a palace had hosted Queen Elizabeth II, Lord and Lady Mountbatten, the Shah of Iran and Jacqueline Kennedy.

The royal family had spent the whole of yesterday meeting Rajput community leaders. Political observers said the protest was not so much against the taking over of the land as the insult to Rajput honour and the fact that practically nobody from the BJP had come forward in Diya Kumari's support.

Yesterday, Padmini Devi had made an emotional appeal to Jaipur's citizens through a newspaper advertisement, citing her family's contribution towards the development of the city by providing land for educational institutions, government offices and museums.

She also recalled the role played by her late mother-in-law Gayatri Devi and her husband Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II in putting the city on the world map.

Diya Kumari is said to have met Union home minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi and urged him to intervene.

The 45-year-old did not attend the BJP legislature party meeting yesterday for the Assembly session that kicked off today. But she is said to have contacted all the 28 Rajput MLAs of the party and is trying to bring up the issue in the House.