The Scindias-Chouhan row is refusing to die down. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's statement that Scindias betrayed locals during the British era has gone beyond Ater bypoll rhetoric.
The buzz is that some members of the Scindia family who have remained loyal to the BJP want party chief Amit Shah to take a view in view of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia's exemplary services rendered to the party.
At another level, Scindia-Chouhan row has been a testing time for both Congress and BJP leaders.
The Chief Minister while addressing a public rally in Sinhuda village of bypoll-bound Ater in Bhind district had reportedly launched a scathing attack on the erstwhile royal Scindia family, saying that Scindias connived with the Britishers to unleash atrocities on innocent people.
The verbal attack by Chouhan was seen to particularly target the Guna MP and Congress chief whip in the lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is likely to be projected as Congress's chief ministerial candidate for the 2018 Assembly polls.
The political observers feel that at a time when there were talks that Scindia might be projected as Congress' face in the next Assembly elections, Shivraj Singh Chouhan did his bit to test both Congress and the BJP leaders.
While the Congress leaders did not seem united over the issue in favour of Scindia, the BJP leadership was also seen divided. Senior
Continued on Page 4 Congress leader Premchand Guddu hailing from Indore had in a statement issued recently sought an apology from Scindia for the act.
Chouhan's Cabinet colleague, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Yashodhara Raje Scindia, while talking to journalists in Shivpuri on Saturday, virtually went to the extent of an emotional outburst.
While reiterating that she firmly believed the MP CM can never utter such statements, particularly as he had himself closely worked under the guidance of her mother and the renamed Bhartiya Jan Sangh's founder- member Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia, the Minister vividly described how her mother addressed as 'Rajmata' worked selflessly for the party.
On the contrary, there were other Cabinet colleagues, who justified the 'statement' of Chouhan.