Back to retake Guna, Jyotiraditya Scindia hopes to put 2019’s shock loss in rearview

But having moved to the ruling party in March 2020, Scindia who is again back in the fray from Guna, which votes on May 7, tells The Indian Express that he has moved past the defeat, has “no mental block”, and does not think he is “reclaiming the seat”.

“For me, the people of the Gwalior-Chambal region are my family … I may not have received their blessings (in 2019) and need to address what the failings were, I will go back to them for their blessings,” says the Union Minister, for whom the entire clan, including wife Priyadarshini Raje, has hit the streets to canvass.

While BJP leaders across India are campaigning on the platform of “double engine sarkar”, in his campaign speeches Scindia has added one more “engine”. In the village of Mahu Alampur, he tells a gathering, “There will be another double-engine sarkar (at the Centre). I am here to ask you to make it a triple-engine sarkar (in Guna). At the Centre, (PM Narendra) Modi ji, in the state (Chief Minister) Mohan Yadavji, and in Guna and Ashok Nagar, aapke parivar ka mukhiya (head of your family).”

The “triple-engine sarkar” pitch has not gone unnoticed. Scindia and Yadav share a relationship that appears to be growing closer by the day. Even K P Yadav, who defeated Scindia by 1.25 lakh votes in 2019, is busy ensuring that Yadav voters stay with the BJP.

That is because, borrowing from the BJP playbook, the Congress has fielded a Yadav, Rao Yadvendra Singh, against Scindia. In 2019, a consolidation of Yadav votes behind the BJP played a big role in Scindia’s defeat.

At Mahu Alampur, the faultlines are stark. Devendra Kushwaha, a local, while waiting for Scindia, explains, “The Kushwahas vote for Maharaj, who has always protected us. Last time, the dominant Yadavs voted for the BJP as they did not want us to gain political leverage. Now, everyone is united, so Maharaj will win.”

Displaying deep knowledge of the land of his ancestors, Scindia is contesting on hyperlocal issues, recalling past struggles for power supply and roads as far back as 2002. He invokes his bloodline to connect with people, describing it as a “relationship stretching back to three generations”.

“Ours is an old relationship … It is the same blood … that serves and protects. When you celebrate, you will find my voice, as you will find it in your struggles,” he says.

The Union Minister talks about the recent hailstorm that destroyed crops and invokes his connection with the CM. “I spoke to CM Mohan Yadav. In 48 hours, I visited 28 villages and distributed compensation with my own hands,” he says.

Scindia began his campaign early by addressing small sabhas right after the Assembly elections in November. As part of a makeover, he has been projecting himself as any other BJP karyakarta and attempting to change the image of the aloof “Maharaja” of the past.

At a gathering in a village seemingly caught in a time warp — with cow-dung cakes on mudhouse walls and broken roads — Scindia describes how he made “roads like velvet not found even in Delhi”, a six-lane highway to Dewas, and three Kendra Vidyalayas in Guna, Chanderi, and Mungaoli. “No other district in the country has three Kendra Vidyalayas,” he tells the crowd.

It is then that a man marches up to him and asks for permission to speak. Scindia obliges. “His family made Kendriya Vidyalayas. Who is it for? It is for the Yadavs. Maharaj held Yadavs by their hands and helped them walk on their legs,” the man says.

At a meeting with voters from the Scheduled Castes, Scindia asks them to throw the Congress into the Sindh river, reminding them that the party once fielded a candidate against Dr B R Ambedkar. “Kyu chipak rak ho Congress aur BSP ke saath (Why are you stuck with the Congress and BSP)?” he asks the crowd, dubbing the Opposition INDIA alliance a “thug bandhan (union of thieves)”.

When a woman in the crowd tells him, “Talaab bana do (build a pond here)”, Scindia stretches his hands and says, “Aap logo ne hathkadi laga di thhi (You had handcuffed me).” When the woman next says she has not received the benefits of the Ujwala (Centre’s free LPG cylinder) scheme, the BJP leader asks her if she is receiving the benefits of the Ladli Behana Yojana (the state government’s monthly Rs 1,250 stipend). As she nods, Scindia says, “If I had not toppled the (Congress) government, would you have got Ladli Behana?”