E-Paper
Gwalior
Politics in the Gwalior assembly segment has centered around the Scindia family, the erstwhile rulers of the region.
Politics in the Gwalior assembly segment has centered around the Scindia family, the erstwhile rulers of the region. Though, the Maharaja, late Madhavrao Scindia and now, his son Jyotiraditya Scindia were very popular among the masses, the Congress has not found it easy and could win only on two occassions in the last five elections.
Gwalior is presently represented by Narendra Singh Tomar, a hardline BJP leader who rose to the top from being an aggressive youth wing leader having led the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) state unit. This elections would be an acid test for him, particularly so because of the clout enjoyed by Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has been working in the region.
Tomar won the 1998 assembly elections defeating independent candidate Ashok Kumar Sharma by an overwhelming margin of about 26,000 votes. He was also involved in a keen contest with Raghuvir Singh of the Congress in 1993 and had lost by a slender margin of about 600 votes.
Congress won from Gwalior only in 1980 and 1993 during the last 23 years. In 1980 the former trade union leader and Congress candidate Tara Singh Viyogi had won from here. During the next two polls in 1985 and 1990 BJP's Dharamveer had won the seat.
The new scion of the princely state Jyotiraditya, has been touring the constituency intensively during the last two years and has undertaken several development programmes in the region. Like his late father Madhavrao, he is also very popular and this assembly elections will be his first acid test- the feel of the electorate.
If he is able to get Congressmen elected from the region it will only add to the growing stature of Jyotiraditya in the Congress. He is already seen by senior leaders in the Congress and observers as a rising star. Hence, the failure and success of Congress candidates have to do a lot about his own personal image. If the Congress party fares well in Gwalior region, he surely will turn out to a force to reckon with in Indian politics.
