Their battle has proved to be a royal headache for the people of Satara, who don't know whom to vote for on October 13.
The royals are campaigning door-to-door and the response is clearly overwhelming.
Roads are decorated with rangoli, women wait at each doorstep with aartis. After each aarti, they apply tilak on their forehead and offer him pedas and sugar, which the royals dutifully pass on to their aides.
Now the question of who will they vote for. The mood was pretty much summed up by Mohan Zad, who owns a photo gallery.
To begin with, he clearly wasn't thrilled with the idea of choosing one of the two. "We will see what to do on that day," he said.
Ditto with everyone else I spoke to.
Bharat Jadav, who owns a photocopying business near the bus stand, said, "Aise kaise batayega aapko? Aisa to koi nahin bolega. Aap chahe kisi ko bhi pooch lo. Magar hum chahte hain ke woh fir se ek ho jayen. Woh achcha rahega (What can we say? We want to see them united)."
Everyone in Satara - except those who are directly involved in the election - respect the family too much to take sides.
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