M A I N   N E W S

In MP’s battle royal, Scindia scion locks horns with his aunt
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

Gwalior, November 16
Something rather unusual has happened in Madhya Pradesh assembly elections due November 25. Going against the Scindhia family traditions, Union minister of state for energy Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is also the chief of the Congress campaign committee, campaigned against his aunt, Yashodhra Raje, the BJP candidate from Shivpuri.

Though Shivpuri falls under his Guna Lok Sabha constituency, Jyotiraditya canvasses for party candidate Virendra Raghuvanshi, highlighting not just the changing times but also his high stakes in the state politics.

Members from the Scindia royal family usually do not campaign against each other. The understanding is apparently being followed since the times of late Vijayraje Scindia, a BJP leader, and her son Madavrao Scindia, who owed allegiance to the Congress. The forthcoming assembly elections in MP are crucial for Jyotiraditya’s political future. The Congress has asked party factions to fall in line behind him. Analysts say the elections are crucial not just because these could launch Jyotiraditya in the big league of national politics. The outcome may also define his political future at the Centre. Jyotiraditya may not be contesting, but he is the face of the Congress campaign.

Even though the grand old party may have strategically handed over reins of MP campaign committee to young and fresh-faced Jyotiraditya Scindia to buoy party cadres in the State, the simmering undertones of acrimony among different factions remain perceptible.

Out of power in the state for 10 years, the 34 seats of the Gwalior-Chambal region are significant for the Congress. Some of the high-impact constituencies are located here.

Even when the BJP swept the rest of the state in 2008, it was neck-and-neck with the Congress in the region, which gave the saffron party 17 seats, Congress 13 and the BSP 4. With UPA ally Samajwadi Party in power in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, SP supporter Vijay Malik hopes that the tide will turn in his party’s favour this time. In any case, whether it is BSP or SP, the gains on either side will go in favour of the Congress.

In Gwalior and Chambal regions, times may have changed, but the “royal touch” remains. It also shows in campaigning as well.

Vasundhra Raje is technically not a Scindhia after her marriage into the erstwhile Dholpur royal family. But she prefers to be referred to as one. Maya Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP of the BJP, also proudly proclaims her royal connection. Her posters describe her as “maami”(aunt). Her husband is Madavrao’s uncle and was popularly known as “mamajee”.