Jyotiraditya campaigns, Mahanaaryaman connects — how Scindia father-son duo is wooing Guna

Guna: From cricket grounds and computer centres to village street corners, 28-year-old Mahanaaryaman Scindia is making his presence felt across Madhya Pradesh’s Guna. Here, his father, Congress turncoat Jyotiraditya Scindia, is working full throttle to recapture the family bastion on a BJP ticket.

In Jyotiraditya’s Lok Sabha campaign, father and son are tag-teaming to woo the nearly 18 lakh voters of the constituency. While Jyotiraditya holds sabha after sabha, moving swiftly from one venue to the next, Mahanaaryaman stays back to create personal connections. The young “Maharaj”, as he is called by the people here, makes it a point to bond with younger voters and share meals with tribal and Dalit families.

On a bright Thursday morning at Guna’s Sanjay Stadium, Mahanaaryaman cheers on a group of young women cricketers. After the game, he gathers them for a heart-to-heart.

“Today it is just me watching, tomorrow when there will be tournaments announced there will be lots of people who will come to watch you, but you must not get nervous. Always play with a calm mind,” he tells them. When the players express the need for their own cricket stadium, Mahanaaryaman’s responds with the deftness of a seasoned politician.

“People, bear with me for a little more time. Very soon, I will work towards getting a stadium for you. Is there anything else anyone wants?” he asks. As the conversation dips into a lull, he lightens the mood. “Nobody here wants tournaments organised? Arre yaar toh bolo na (Come on buddies, speak up)! We’re working to organise tournaments so you get a chance to play a proper game!”

Nestled in the Gwalior-Chambal region, bordering Rajasthan, Guna is set to vote on 7 May, and the people of the constituency are getting personally acquainted with Mahanaaryaman, the youngest member of the Scindia clan. This election is a battle of the turncoats, with Jyotiraditya facing off against BJP rebel-turned-Congress candidate Rao Yadavendra Singh Yadav.

Yet, while Jyotiraditya may get his edge from being a scion of the erstwhile princely state of Gwalior, which included Guna, Mahanaaryaman is tight-lipped about the family’s legacy even when village elders reminisce about it.

“People know what my family has done, they are familiar with our history,” Mahananaryaman tells ThePrint. “But the youth today want to know what I can do for them today and tomorrow and not what was done 100 years ago.”

A battle for legacy

Over the years, Guna has seen Mahanaaryaman Scindia grow up through five-year election cycles. Back in 2014, when he was still a student at the prestigious Doon School, he returned to Guna to campaign for his father. In 2019, by which time he’d acquired a bachelor’s degree from Yale, he reappeared again.  But it is now that the entrepreneur and former Boston Consulting Group associate is really registering his presence in the constituency.

Mahanaaryaman seems to be following a path well-trodden by generations of Scindias, who have kept up their influence in the region through both electoral victories and defeats.

“The Scindias are one of the unique families that have remained in power even after the princely states were merged into independent India. Even then, George Jivaji Rao Scindia was made the governor of Madhya Bharat,” says writer Rasheed Kidwai, author of The House of Scindias.

The family’s deep connection with Guna began when it was part of Gwalior princely state and continued when Vijayaraje Scindia first entered politics from this seat in 1957 on a Congress ticket. She later became one of the founding members of the Jana Sangh and switched to the Swatantra Party in 1967. As a BJP leader, she held the seat from 1989 to 1998. Such was the hold of Vijayaraje Scindia that in 1998 she reportedly won the seat without having to campaign.

While Vijayaraje shared a fractious relationship with her son Madhavrao Scindia, he continued the legacy, starting his political career from Guna as a Jan Sangh candidate in 1971, winning again as an independent in 1977, and later as a Congress candidate in 1980. After he died in a plane crash in 2001, his son Jyotiraditya took up the mantle after winning by-elections in 2002 from Guna. After that, he won the seat continuously until 2019, when he was defeated by Krishna  Pal Yadav, a former aide who had switched to the BJP.

Then, the following year, Jyotiraditya Scindia shook up the political terrain dramatically by defecting to the BJP with 23 loyalist MLAs, leading to the collapse of the 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led Congress government.

File image of Jyotiraditya Scindia being welcomed into the BJP by Shivraj Singh Chouhan | Photo: PTI

File image of Jyotiraditya Scindia being welcomed into the BJP by Shivraj Singh Chouhan | PTI

After his defection, Scindia was made a Rajya Sabha member in the Narendra Modi-led central government and appointed as Union civil aviation minister. He also campaigned for the 2023 MP assembly elections, which the BJP won by a landslide.

But this election is the real test, marking the first time Jyotiraditya is contesting as a BJP candidate from Guna.

Once again, he is pitted against a member of the Yadav community—Yadvendra Singh Yadav. Now it remains to be seen whether legacy or caste will sway voters more. The shift of Yadav votes to BJP’s KP Yadav was seen as a key reason for Jyotiraditya’s loss in 2019. It’s worth noting that Yadavendra’s father, Deshraj Yadav, a BJP leader and a close aide to Vijayraje Scindia, has been defeated in Guna by both Madhavrao and Jyotiraditya Scindia.

In the recently concluded 2023 assembly elections, the BJP won six of the eight assembly segments in Guna, while the Congress won two. The Yadavs are a dominant caste in the Guna Lok Sabha constituency, estimated to command about 2.5 lakh votes, with the Lodhi and tribal communities also comprising a sizable portion of the electorate.

Mahanaaryaman is now being groomed to extend the Scindia legacy, according to political observers. And some voters at least are welcoming it.

“Madhavrao Scindia was a true Maharaja who ensured all our demands were met,” says Bhagwan Singh Dhakkad, a 62-year-old sarpanch from Tillikheda village in Guna, who has worked with three generations of Scindias. “Now we see Mahanaaryaman, who is giving so much of his time listening to the people.”

Scindia with the personal touch

The team coordinating Mahanaaryaman’s hectic campaign schedule is on edge.  As they trundle down the dusty roads of Guna in a small cavalcade of white Toyota Fortuners, the junior Maharaj often makes unscheduled stops and has a tendency to extend his interactions with the constituency’s people.

“Please tell Maharaj to cut this visit short,” says one aide, nudging another. The other aide shrugs helplessly. “What can I do? Maharaj wants to make sure no one feels neglected.”

Still unjaded perhaps, Mahanaaryaman does indeed expend considerable effort to speak to voters.

At Malpura village, where people credit their thriving crops and plentiful water to a lake commissioned by the late Jivajirao Scindia, Mahanaaryaman addresses a group of 100 odd villagers at a small nukkad sabha. After speaking, he takes time to listen to their grievances.

Villager Anita Lodha, visibly upset, rushes to him with a notice in her hand. “See this, Maharaj!” she cries out. “They’ve sent me this notice, accusing me of stealing electricity!”

Mahanaaryaman offers both reassurance and a safety tip. “You must not give this original notice to anyone, not even to me. The sarpanch will make a copy of this and submit it to us and we will try to get it resolved very soon,” he says.

Another woman implores him to visit her shanty to witness their living conditions. Mahanaaryaman promises to set up a camp in each village to document and address grievances via an online portal. “With the help of sarpanches, we will reach your villages and resolve all problems,” he promises.

Next, it’s time for Mahanaaryaman to brave the narrow lanes of ramshackle Guna town, shifting gears to focus on youth outreach. He’s been meeting with UPSC aspirants and visiting computer training institutes to connect with first-time voters.

At the Soni Computer Training Institute, he paraphrases Michael Jackson, telling the young men and women to look at the person in the mirror and understand who he or she is. He also introduces his startup, MyMandi, which sources fresh produce in bulk and sells it directly to street vendors.

“I have launched a startup and I know it is not an easy task to get investors to put in their money, it is not an easy road but I will be very happy to support you all if you have any ideas,” he says.

This subject is close to his heart, he tells ThePrint. “I want to become a leader for the youth. I want to motivate them to not depend on jobs, but instead become job creators.” But he is quick to add that he has no immediate plans to enter politics and is focused on making Gwalior-based MyMandi a huge success.

As the fresh-faced Mahanaaryaman speaks, a group of girls giggle and shoot videos. One of them guesses that he must be 21 years old and still in college.

Not everyone immediately recognises him. “His face looks similar to Scindia ji and so I guessed him to be his son. He seems like he is a new politician, carefully choosing what to say,” says 21-year-old Sanjana Soni.

Meanwhile, Sakshi Lodha, an 18-year-old first-year BCom student, is captivated. “I found him very sweet and he explained things patiently. He also said he will be willing to help us in our future endeavours,” she giggles.

Meanwhile, civil services aspirant Siddhi Jain sits quietly in a corner, intently listening to Mahanaaryaman speak. Like a handful of others, she is more sceptical. At first, she mistakes Mahanaaryaman for a Congress campaigner, but when someone corrects her, she smiles. “Fir theek hai (Then it’s fine), we will be voting for the BJP,” she says.

‘Unbeatable’ Modi-Scindia combo

In Guna’s Lukwasa village, crowds have swelled to hear Jyotiraditya Scindia speak at a public meeting, with some even climbing rooftops for a better view. The local sentiment is buoyant, with many expressing the conviction that the Modi-Scindia combination is unbeatable.

During his speech, Jyotiraditya talks about the integration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership with his own efforts in the region.

“When you have to stitch clothes you go to the tailor, right? Similarly, I am a tailor of the roads, having weaved the extensive road network,” he tells the crowd. “I got trains to move in the opposite direction, ensuring the halt in Guna and providing crucial connectivity for our students to travel to Pune and Mumbai and to religious places like Kashi.”

Across the road, Hari Om Sharma, whose general store features a large picture of the newly constructed Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, predicts that Jyotiraditya will clinch the seat easily.

“He has already won, there is no double about it. You can see the enthusiasm in the crowd,” he says. Nearby, Chetan Jain, who owns a footwear store in Lukwasa’s bustling market, is equally optimistic now that Jyotiraditya is with the BJP. “With Modi ji’ support he will definitely win,” he proclaims.

While many are sure of Jyotiraditya Scindia’s victory due to his popularity and the BJP’s organisational strength, others like Bhagwan Dhakkad are waiting for Mahanaaryaman’s entry into the electoral foray.

“He comes across as compassionate and willing to connect with the common man despite coming from a royal family,” Dhakkad says with a soft smile. “It will be interesting to see how he leads the region.”

(Edited by Asavari Singh)