Confusion continues to prevail in the Congress circles about the party’s candidate for the prestigious Gwalior Parliamentary Constituency amidst rumours that former Union Minster and sitting MP from Guna, Jyotiraditya Scindia could contest from here instead of Guna.
The possible entry of Priyadarshini Raje into the election arena has only added fuel to the prevailing confusion among congress workers. There is strong speculation that the wife of Jyotiraditya Scindia will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Gwalior. There are also demands from a section of congressmen that Scindia shift base from Guna to Gwalior and Priyadarshini Raje be fielded from Guna.
According to them, the Congress will then have strong candidates in both Gwalior and Guna.
Amidst all these speculations and assumptions by political observers and party workers, Scindia is yet to give an official statement on his or his wife’s nomination. A week back, Kamal Nath had announced that Scindia will be fielded from Guna from where he had been contesting and winning the Lok Sabha elections for all these years. However, the party high command is yet to make a formal announcement and this is creating more confusion among the workers.
The situation is also getting tricky for Scindia as his aunt and BJP leader Yashodara Raje Scindia is also among the contenders for the Gwalior seat.
Traditionally the Scindias never take on each other in a direct battle despite their diverse political affiliations.
While a section of the congressmen, especially those who are loyal to Digvijay Singh, argues that Ashok Singh, the party general secretary, is popular in the constituency, especially in the rural areas, the hat-trick of his defeats seem to have a dampening effect on the party leadership.
No doubt, Gwalior, the bastion of the ‘Maharaja’ is evoking keen political interest over the choice of the Congress candidate.
BJP too has adopted a wait and watch policy before taking a final count.