MP LS Polls: In 2 LS Constituencies in MP, “Raja Saheb” Digvijay and “Maharaj” Scindia ‘Fight for Pride’

For, they are yet to come to terms with the ignominious defeat they had suffered in their respective constituencies in the last LS polls and a win this time would alone ‘salvage their pride’.

Two-time chief minister Mr Singh, famously known as ‘Raja of Raghogarh’, had lost to BJP’s Pragya Singh Thakur, a greenhorn in politics then, in Bhopal LS seat in 2019 by a margin of over 3.60 lakh, leaving him stunned.

Mr Singh, in fact, was taken aback when he was declared a candidate for his home turf, Rajgarh, by Congress.

“At this age, it is beyond my capacity to contest polls. Congress workers will fight the poll for me in every booth”, 77-year-old Mr Singh had said while addressing his first meeting of Congress workers in Rajgarh after he was declared the candidate by the party.

“Since then, he has been campaigning in the nook and corner of the constituency, mostly by holding foot marches, a traditional Congress style of campaigning”, local journalist Arun Srivastav said.

It was no easy task for Mr Singh to reconnect to the people in his home constituency since he last fought the polls in this seat in 1991.

He is now working hard not only to reconnect to his old acquaintances, some of whom have grown too old to recollect the past memory, but also to the younger generation by reminding them of his acquaintances with their parents and grandparents.

“Pehchanteho mujhe?” has been his pet question to his electorates, old and young, when he campaigns in their areas.

He also reminds them that it may be his last election.

Mr Singh first contested from the Rajgarh LS seat in 1984 and won the polls. He however lost the polls in the seat in 1989 and then retained it in 1991 LS polls.

He is pitted against incumbent MP in the constituency Rodmal Nagar of BJP.

Stakes are also high for Mr Scindia in this poll in Guna LS constituency, which has remained with his family for the past 37 years barring in 2019 polls when he suffered a shocking defeat from BJP’s K P Yadav, once his close aide.

Mr Scindia has focused on the seat soon after November, 2023 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh were over.

He is seen connecting with his electorate by invoking his family’s long association with them, besides projecting the developmental works he has undertaken in the constituency.

Yadav community forms the sizable population in the constituency.

BJP has deployed chief minister Mohan Yadav and the former MP Mr Yadav to campaign for Mr Scindia to placate the Yadav community after denial of ticket to the sitting MP.

BJP has also carpet bombed the constituency with its star campaigners such as Union home minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, former Union minister Uma Bharti, and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.