Jyotiraditya Scindia's prestige battle: Can he bolster BJP's standing in Gwalior?

It's a prestige battle for Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in his family turf of Gwalior and he is making all efforts to ensure improvement in the BJP's tally in the region.

In 2018, the Congress bagged 16 out of 21 seats of Gwalior region, while the BJP won five seats. In the 2020 bypolls, after Scindia's defection to the BJP, the party's tally went up to 11 while the Congress was reduced to 10. Just a few months ago, the Congress appeared to be sweeping the region. But the recent internal fight after ticket distribution has created some confusion among party workers. "If our seats go down, that is only because of our own problems," a Congress leader from the region told ET on condition of anonymity.

Under Scindia's leadership, BJP has arrested the rebellion within the party and looks more organised on the ground. Scindia is camping in Gwalior and holding regular meetings with party workers. "From Maharaj he has become Bhai Sahab," said a BJP supporter, Shiv Kumar, describing how Scindia has become more accessible since joining the BJP.


In Gwalior district, there are six seats, out of which Congress has four MLAs and BJP has two. This may well change after the upcoming election. Congress MLA from Gwalior South, Pravin Pathak, is on a sticky wicket. In 2018 he won the seat by 121 votes, defeating two-time BJP MLA Narayan Kushwah. A BJP rebel, Sameeksha Gupta, contested as an independent and secured 30,000 votes, leading to Kushwah's defeat. This time, Gupta is with Kushwah.