Here is a surprise for those who thought that the nuptial ties between Bengal and Rajasthan ended with the death of Jaipur queen Gayatri Devi. Here is the story of another Cooch Behar princess who married into a Rajasthan royal family — Uttara Devi — also coming from the royal Cooch Behar lineage is the mother of the Kota Congress candidate Ijyaraj Singh.

Equally elegant in style and beauty, the present Queen of Kota is the cousin of the illustrious Gayatri Devi. She is the daughter of Prince Indra Jitendra Narayan — the younger brother of the last Cooch Behar king Jagaddipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur — who signed the famed agreement with the Government of India in 1949 effecting the accession of this princely State of North Bengal bordering Assam.

Incidentally, her brother Bir Narayan was also acknowledged as the king by the Central Government. Wife of Kota Maharaja Brijraj Singh, Queen Uttara Devi, rarely visits her ancestral place. “However she keeps in regular touch with her ‘Maika’ with Nirupam Ghosh an NBSTC employee” says a local journalist adding that the Queen could be visiting Cooch Behar after many years to offer prayers at the royal temple of Madan Mohan seeking victory for her son Jeyraj Singh who was elected on Congress ticket in 2009.

Uttara Devi’s daughter Bhabani Kumari is married to Mahraja JC Mehtab of Burdwan and lives in Kolkata. When asked as to whether the Maharani takes any interest in the political happenings of Cooch Behar the locals answered in negative. “They are traditional princesses who have been more pre-occupied with their in-laws. However they offer special prayers to their ancestral deities here sometimes,” says Dhiman Roy a trader from BS Road.