Guna LS seat: Battle of prestige for Scindia to get back his family pocket borough

Bhopal: The electoral battle for the Guna Lok Sabha seat, where Union Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, is contesting for the sixth time, is going to be a high-profile and high-octane contest like always.

Spanning eight Assembly seats of the three districts of Guna, Shivpuri and Ashok Nagar, most of the time, this particular seat was represented by the members of the Scindia family of the erstwhile Gwalior dynasty.

Jyotiraditya Scindia’s loss in 2019 was a major jolt to his political career. Now, as he is contesting for the first time on a BJP ticket, local people said the seasoned politician is taking this election as a matter of prestige and is determined to get his family bastion back.

“Scindia was offered the choice to contest the election from Gwalior, but he chose Guna, because he wants to get back his family pocket borough. In fact, preparations for the election had begun months before the poll schedule was announced.

“In the last six months, Scindia has been visiting Gwalior, Guna, Shivpuri and Ashok Nagar districts frequently,” said a Shivpuri-based BJP worker.

During his visit to Guna last week, Scindia had assigned some specific tasks to his supporters and has asked them to meet him after 10 days for a review.

The Opposition Congress, however, is yet to announce its candidate against Scindia as it is eyeing over three lakh Yadav votes in Guna constituency.

It will be no surprise if the grand old party fields former PCC President, Arun Yadav, against Scindia.

Responding to his possible candidature from Guna, senior Congress leader Arun Yadav said he would be ready for it if the party gives him the opportunity.

“If the Congress leadership asks me to contest the election from Guna, I will come forward to take this opportunity. But, it depends on the party to decide the candidates,” Yadav said during a conversation with IANS.

Notably, sitting BJP MP, KP Yadav, who defeated Scindia in 2019 with a margin of over one lakh votes, wasn’t retained for the second term, and Scindia, who joined the BJP in 2020 is now the BJP’s candidate from the Guna Lok Sabha seat.