It is nothing short of blasphemous for anyone else than Virbhadra to assume the title in Mandi. In fact, when bad guy Danny Denzongpa masqueraded as Raja Sahib recently in the Bollywood film, Kohram, Virbhadra objected to it and the film was promptly banned in the state.

For Tarun Pathak, a student leader from Mandi, Maheshwar Singh is the Raja of former Kullu state only and not of the entire Himachal Pradesh. For him, the Raja of Himachal is still Virbhadra. The reason is not far to seek. The candidate he is supporting is a lawyer, Kaul Singh Thakur, who is regarded as close to Virbhadra. ``As far as we are concerned, Raja Sahib and Kaul Singh are the same,'' says his friend Vikas Kapoor.

But noteveryone is overawed by royalty. ``Rajwadashahi khatam kar denge'', (we will end this royalty business) says Kumar Singh, a tea stall owner at Kullu. For him defeating the former ruler, Maheshwar Singh, is important. Tell him that a defeat for the former ruler of his area does not necessarily imply the end of feudalism as it amounts to lending support to the Raja of Rampur, Virbhadra Singh, he shrugs it off.

This dilemma is also faced by others. K K Sharma, a retired teacher, claims he would support Sukh Ram because of the work done for the area by the former communications minister. And because Sukh Ram's party is supporting the BJP, he would support Raja Maheshwar Singh. It is a different matter that in 1989, Maheshwar had himself defeated Sukh Ram and Sukh Ram got even in 1991. But hasn't Sukh Ram been opposing former kings during his career. ``Well, a victory for Raja Maheshwar means a victory for Sukh Ram, and this means a great political setback to Raja Vibhadra!''