Gwalior: Five years after his unexpected defeat from Guna as a Congress candidate, Jyotiraditya Scindia, who represents the current generation of the family in Madhya Pradesh politics, is back in the fray, but this time the election symbol next to his name on the EVM will be lotus. Jyotiraditya Scindia, 53, is the grandson of Vijaya Raje Scindia and son of former Union minister late Madhavrao Scindia. The Guna Lok Sabha seat, which is part of Scindia’s home turf, which also includes Gwalior, is spread across eight assembly seats in Shivpuri and Ashok Nagar districts.
Congress is in the election field after losing its government in Madhya Pradesh exactly four years ago
Jyotiraditya is trying to settle scores with Scindia, but Congress has not yet announced the name of its candidate from Guna. Jyotiraditya Scindia had faced defeat in the 2019 elections, when his old loyalist KP Yadav defeated him by a margin of about 1.26 lakh votes. Now Scindia is again in the electoral fray in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but under the banner of a different party (BJP).
The history of Guna Lok Sabha constituency shows that the Scindia family has never contested its first and last elections from the same party. Union minister’s grandmother Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia contested her first election from this seat in 1957 on a Congress ticket and won. He contested the elections in 1967 as a Swatantra Party candidate and then in 1989 from the BJP. His father Madhavrao Scindia contested his first election from Guna in 1971 on a Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) ticket and fought his last election as a Congress candidate in 1999 before his death in a plane crash near New Delhi in 2001. . Senior journalist, writer and political analyst Rashid Kidwai says that the political inclination of the Scindia family now seems to be calming down. Kidwai said that after decades of consciously choosing different political parties, Scindia’s house is finally settling according to his past and ideological leanings.
Madhavrao Scindia was elected five times from Gwalior
Guna parliamentary seat was represented by Rajmata Scindia six times, while her son Madhavrao Scindia won from here four times. Apart from Guna, Rajmata Scindia had represented Gwalior Lok Sabha seat. Madhavrao Scindia was elected from Gwalior five times. Rajmata Scindia’s daughter Yashodhara Raje also represented the Gwalior seat in the Lok Sabha twice for the BJP.
When Jyotiraditya Scindia joined BJP
Jyotiraditya Scindia has represented the Guna seat four times between 2002 and 2014, including winning the by-election. He joined the BJP along with 22 Congress MLAs in March 2020, a year after his defeat, leading to the fall of the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh.
Former CM Vasundhara Raje had lost from Bhind in 1984.
Jyotiraditya Scindia’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 was the second setback for the Scindia family. In 1984, Union Minister’s aunt and former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje had to face defeat as a BJP candidate from Bhind Lok Sabha seat. She lost to Congress candidate Krishna Singh Judev, who hails from the former royal family of Datia.
