Maharaja to Mantri: Jyotiraditya Scindia faces heat within BJP ranks in MP

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) decision to appoint Narendra Singh Tomar as convener of the election management committee for the Madhya Pradesh (MP) Assembly elections is being seen as a setback for Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was looking for a bigger role in the state before the elections.

The BJP is already battling factionalism in the Gwalior-Chambal region. The battle for supremacy and factionalism in the region has been at its peak since early 2020, when Scindia and his loyalists quit the Congress to align with the BJP.

Senior journalist and political analyst Girija Shankar says, “There is no doubt that local BJP leaders in Chambal have not been able to process Scindia’s entry into the party. If the leaders at the local level are not able to accept him, on what basis should he be given the responsibility of the entire state?”

“The demand that Scindia be given a bigger role was started by his supporters. Fact is, Scindia got what he bargained for when he defected to the BJP. His adherents were made ministers, given Assembly tickets, and losers accommodated on corporation boards. You cannot bargain twice for the same thing. Now he has the same status in the party as the other leaders. When the party did not give any role to Narottam Mishra, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Faggan Singh Kulaste, or Virendra Kumar Khatik in the MP elections, it was too much for Scindia to expect this,” he observes.

A BJP leader from the Gwalior-Chambal region says, “While Tomar’s organisational skills make him the right fit for the role, another task he has to accomplish is to create a level playing field between the BJP veterans and Scindia’s votaries.”

Another political analyst, Rakesh Dixit, says, “There should be no confrontation between Scindia and Tomar. Both are from the Gwalior-Chambal region, but Tomar’s influence is in the Bhind-Morena region north of Gwalior, while Scindia’s in the Guna-Shivpuri region south of Gwalior. Tomar is also close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has good relations with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He has successfully led election campaigns in the past.”

“Tomar or no Tomar, Scindia’s influence is going to be reduced. Not having an important role in the election process, he will also find it difficult to get tickets for his comrades. We all know that these things were not mentioned in the deal that took place during his defection with the Members of Legislative Assembly. That means the BJP leadership is now free to distribute tickets in accordance with its wishes. Scindia is also not in a position to rebel against the party.”

A BJP leader considered close to Scindia said on condition of anonymity, “There is no one matching Tomar’s experience and electoral expertise. Scindia is also happy with the latest developments because, after all, the aim is to win the election. Anyway, you don’t have any options within the BJP. You only have to follow the orders of the top leadership. Home Minister Amit Shah said in his recent visit to Bhopal that we have to give our all to win the election. As far as ticket distribution is concerned in these elections, the only criterion is winnability. It doesn’t matter whether he is a Congress convert to the BJP or a BJP veteran.”

There are 34 Assembly seats in the eight districts of Gwalior and Chambal. In 2018, the Congress won 26 of these, the BJP got seven, and the Bahujan Samaj Party got one. But then, Scindia was with the Congress.
 

Circumstances have since changed. In this area, 20 per cent of the population belongs to the Dalit community, which Congress wants to bring into its fold.

After the fall of the Kamal Nath government, by-elections were held for 28 seats, of which the BJP got 19 and the Congress nine.

According to analysts, the absence of pressure from the Scindia camp in ticket distribution will be to its advantage.

Priyanka Gandhi’s visit to Rani Laxmibai’s memorial for the first time during her recent visit to Gwalior is also an indication that the party will make Scindia’s betrayal a talking point (if need be).