‘Many BJP leaders’ politics revolved around attacking the Scindias’.
New Delhi: When the elation and celebrations over the entry of Jyotiraditya Scindia into the BJP subside among various camps, the reality of the political complexity that not just the “Maharaj”, but Gwalior-based BJP leaders are going to face, is likely to sink in.
Many of the prominent Madhya Pradesh-based BJP leaders like Narendra Singh Tomar, Prabhat Jha, Narottam Mishra and Jaibhan Pawaiya, have, all throughout their decades-long political life, risen up the party ranks by taking on the Scindia dynasty and have firmly established themselves as regional satraps in the process. However, with Scindia no more an adversary now, all these leaders will now have to start looking for greener pastures and new enemies.
Till two weeks ago, Prabhat Jha, who is the national vice president of the party and the outgoing Rajya Sabha member, was attacking Scindia for the alleged multi-crore land grabs that he had been indulging in ever since the Kamal Nath-led Congress government had come to power. However, Jha will have to now prepare himself to share stage with Scindia when the “Maharaj” visits Gwalior next.
Similar is the case with Union minister and MP from Morena, Narendra Singh Tomar, who now has to handle two worries—how to keep Scindia in check and also think about his sons’ political future. For a long time now, Tomar has been worried that his two sons are still miles away from establishing themselves in the party and with the entry of Scindia, the power and influence of Tomar in Gwalior and in the state, will be divided massively, if not completely eroded.
“Scindia will now also have a say on who will get the ticket, who will be appointed in Gwalior and how files will move. Earlier, this prerogative was with Jha and Tomar only. They have every right to be worried,” a Gwalior-based journalist said.
Political observers said that the politics in Gwalior, for ages now, has revolved around those who stand with the Scindia dynasty and those who oppose it. “Scores of BJP leaders have come and gone who weaved their politics around attacking and opposing the Scindias. It is still very difficult to comprehend how BJP and RSS lower and mid-level workers, if they ever will, accept speaking in support of Scindias,” a close aide of Scindia accepted.
One of the most prominent BJP leaders, whose whole political future has come into jeopardy, is Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya, a 100% RSS man who has been an MLA and a MP from Gwalior. Pawaiya is known as the biggest baitor of Scindia in the state. The 64-year-old Pawaiya continued to attack Jyotiraditya with the same zeal with which he used to attack his father Madhavrao Scindia. The bad blood that has been spilled between the two, according to locals, is too much and the feud is unlikely to be resolved in the near future.
Bhopal-based political observers also said that Scindia, who has lived all his life as someone who was very important in the Congress scheme of things, is unlikely to get the same attention in the BJP.
“In Congress, he was among the top ten leaders; in BJP, he might not be in the top 30. He is very low in the pecking order compared to his position in the Congress. His supporters will experience this pecking order more than Scindia. The BJP is a party that has a strong chain of command and a unified cadre; Congress is a party which has no cadre. But it can be expected that Scindia had given these things a careful thought before making the switch,” a Bhopal-based political observer told this newspaper.