The late Virbhadra Singh, who hailed from the erstwhile Rampur Bushahr royal family, dominated the politics of Himachal Pradesh for almost five decades. His son Vikramaditya is now in the poll fray from the Shimla Rural seat.
Vikramaditya took over as the representative of Shimla Rural from his father Virbhadra in 2017.
Known as 'tikka' or prince by the local people, Vikramaditya has pressure to carry forward his father's legacy who was the Chief Minister of Himachal six times. Meanwhile, his mother Pratibha Singh, who hails from the erstwhile Keonthal royal family, is the president of the Himachal Pradesh Congress. She is not contesting the election as she is the MP from Mandi.
A graduate of Delhi University's Hansraj College, Vikramaditya joined the Himachal Pradesh Congress unit in 2013 and was elected as the state youth Congress president later. Currently, he is the general secretary of the state Congress committee, and in charge of communications.
In the run-up to the polls, the 32-year-old has focused on jobs and education. He has also raised the issue of generating employment opportunities for the youth of the hill state.
However, while Vikramaditya has thrown his hat in for re-election, the influence of the erstwhile royals in the hill state has become an issue of debate between the BJP and the Congress in the run-up to the polls.
While the Congress, looking to come back to power in the hill state, has put its money on several former "royals" in the upcoming Assembly polls, the ruling BJP says there is no place for "rajas and ranis" in a democracy.
The influence of the "royals" has, however, waned over the years, as is clear from their depleting numbers in the poll fray this time. Only a handful of them are contesting the Assembly election to be held on November 12.