The world’s eyes are trained on this family, what with the grand patriarch, Capt Amarinder Singh hogging all the debates, discussions, and viewership on prime-time news. Speculations are rife on whether Capt Amarinder Singh will join the BJP or branch out on his own. Will the BJP use his entry as a ticket to go soft on the farm laws and with the Maharaja of Patiala manage to sweep the forthcoming elections?
As the cameras go ballistic on his face, one tall, handsome, and quiet pillar stands by his side, from dusk to dawn, handling his grandfather’s social media campaign, his political calendar, his propaganda machinery, and his image before the press. A quiet king maker, this graduate from Stephens who studied politics in the United Kingdom is none other than Capt Amarinder Singh’s grandson Nirvaan Singh. A Sanawarian who went on to study in Delhi’s Sanskriti before making his way to the United Kingdom, he is the social media head of Amarinder Singh’s account and takes his job profile way above that.
The son of Amarinder’s daughter Jai Inder Singh, Nirvaan is married to Dr Karan Singh’s granddaughter, the stunning Princess Mriganka Kumari. Whilst his elder brother Kunwar Angad Singh Sandhawalia of Raja Sansi, an avid polo player and businessman, married to his school beau, Kunwarani Aprajita kumari (daughter of Ex-CM of Himachal Pradesh Raja Virbadhra Singh of Rampur-Bushahr state), both brothers simply personify the family’s many-layered links with the Congress. Their mother helped Amarinder’s wife Perneet Kaur fight the elections, whilst Nirvaan, at that time, fresh from university was apprenticing at her office. Perneet was the external affairs minister in the Congress government. Interestingly, the family tree is closely intertwined with the Congress party on all sides. A tie-up which this grandfather and grandson must be finding it tough to on how to clip off.
In 2017, he took over the social media campaign for his grandfather in the thick of the elections. “It was a tough time as we would be on the road from 5 am in the morning to 1 am in the night.” While he stood by the side of his grandfather he also ensured that the Twitter page of the leader kept buzzing.
During the elections, he made headlines calling Arvind Kejriwal a ‘sneaky little fellow!’ When the TV channels tried to attribute this chutzpah to the grandson, Nirvaan was vociferously heard saying, “His words, not mine”. Laughs Nirvaan, “My grandfather is very involved with the social media realm and often keeps awake till 1 am in the night to go through all the comments.” Even now when Amarinder is calling out his so-called rival Sidhu in the most entertaining manner, Nirvaan is simply ensuring the amplification of every witty one-liner Captain pens himself.
While Amarinder’s son Raninder Singh, a shooting champion prefers to train his eyes on sports, many in Punjab are calling Nirvaan the heir apparent to his grandfather’s throne. He smiles when you suggest that saying, “Every minute with my grandfather is full of learning.”