Maharaja finds it tough against Master CM

New Delhi: In a battle between a Maharaja (Jyotiraditya Scindia), who belongs to a Royal lineage and a Master in politics (Shivraj Singh Chauhan), it is the latter, who is more likely to get re-elected for the third time. Interestingly, both Scindia and Chauhan have fought elections on their own, with their parties riven with factionalism. With the polls over on Monday, both can now only blame their party colleagues, if they don’t return victorious after addressing 10 to 12 public meetings every day.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan is hoping to score a hat-trick, confident that he has succeeded in delivering, by coming up with novel schemes for the girls, youth and tribals, in particular. A supporter of BJP patriarch L K Advani, Chauhan does not rule himself out from the BJP Prime Ministerial race, if his Gujarat counterpart, who is now the Prime Ministerial face of the BJP, is unable to rope-in allies for the coalition government at the Centre, after the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.

Chauhan, along with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, is keen to be placed on the same pedestal as Modi, who has already scored a hat-trick and is now the BJP’s candidate for the topmost post. Unlike Chauhan, Jyotiraditya Scindia is not desperate to become the State Chief Minister, knowing that he will continue as the Power Minister at the Centre, despite the defeat.

Though, Scindia tried his best to put his best foot forward, it was his party colleagues, who did not back him to the hilt. All the State leaders, right from Suresh Pachauri, Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath, did little to see him victorious. Except for few public meetings, they remained restricted to their own regions, fearing that the debacle in their own constituencies would draw flak from no less a person than Rahul Gandhi, himself.

Rivalries between various factions in the Congress are continuing from the time of the senior Scindia, Madhavrao. The only difference is that while Madhavrao was never allowed to look beyond the Gwalior region, his son, Jyotiraditya was projected as the Congress Chief Ministerial candidate, due to his proximity with Rahul Gandhi.

The announcement, which came rather late in the day of Scindia being named as the Campaign Committee Chairman, could not rejuvenate the party, as all the senior leaders were hoping to see themselves emerging as the Chief Ministerial candidates.

Suresh Pachauri and Kamal Nath see themselves being close to 10, Janpath, while Digvijay Singh is perceived to be Rahul’s right-hand man.

Rahul Gandhi surprised all of them, when he chose his own young friend Jyotiraditya, over and above all of them. Both Jyotiraditya and Rahul share the same equation and trust that was seen between Madhavrao and Sonia Gandhi, earlier. Sonia had selected Madhavrao Scindia as her Deputy, when she was Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha in 1999. Later, after his death, Shivraj Patil became the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

During his election trail, Jyotiraditya freely interacted with the people, dispelling the impression that the Maharaja was arrogant and egoistic. He was cautiously so polite that he ignored all the threats to his life and all the warnings that the dais would collapse if he allowed more and more people on to the stage. His mimicry and his adapting to the filmy-style caused laughter among the crowds and made him their favourite leader. In fact, his aunt, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, contesting from Gwalior, is considered to be more autocratic in her behavior, than Jyotiraditya.

Hitting out at Chauhan on the lack of development, Scindia never forgot to give credit to the Centre for the widening of roads and power supply. He pooh-poohed Chief Minister's claim of development saying that the money has been spent only on advertisements and publicity.

In the contest between Chauhan and Jyotiraditya, if Chauhan loses, Modi will be happy, as he is seen to be Advani’s man and if Jyotiraditya loses, all the State leaders will celebrate, except Rahul Gandhi.