In Shivpuri, it’s Scindia vs Scindia

BHOPAL: In a surprise break from years-old tradition, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia launched his campaign last week in Shivpuri constituency, where his aunt MP Yashodhara Raje Scindia is the BJP candidate . The Scindia clan, supporters noted, studiedly avoids getting into a Scindia vs Scindia campaign scenario.

Jyotiraditya’s Shivpuri campaign for Congress candidate in Shivpuri, Virendra Raghuvanshi — albeit a short speech and a quick exit — broke from that tradition. Once Gwalior MP Yashodhara jumped into the fray from Shivpuri , Jyotiraditya — also the state Congress’s campaign committee chief — was apparently left with no option but to campaign against her. Shivpuri falls under Jyotiraditya’s Guna Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP’s decision to nominate the Gwalior MP from the Shivpuri seat has raised many eyebrows. Reportedly, Yashodhara too was reluctant to contest from Shivpuri, but was convinced by CM Shivraj Chouhan and state BJP chief Narendra Singh Tomar who argued that her candidature could stop the ‘Jyotiraditya effect’ in the region.

Raghuvanshi is going all out to win votes of Jyotiraditya loyalists in the region that has a strong affinity for the Scindia family.

Since the days of late Vijayaraje Scindia (BJP) and son Madhavrao (Cong) the Scindia clan has had an understanding they’ll not target each other in campaigns even if they represent different political parties. In 1999 Lok Sabha polls when Congress fielded Madhavrao from Gwalior, his mother shifted to Guna to avoid a confrontation.