"It is very simple sir," Sanjay Rasak, a teastall owner in Shivpuri, tells us when asked about this electoral paradox. "Everyone likes to be on the winning side. In the assembly election, we knew the BJP would form the government and so we voted for the BJP. The ruling party's MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) is always more effective than the Opposition's MLA."
He expresses disappointment with the Election Commission. "In the last election, they deleted hundreds of names from the electoral rolls. We went from booth to booth, looking for our names. I am a young man and could run around. Imagine a family that goes to vote. Can a husband and wife and two children run from booth to booth? It was not fair," he recalls angrily.
Rasak claims the BJP-led state government is delaying Scindia's development schemes in Shivpuri. "Scindiaji has brought a drainage and drinking water scheme, which costs Rs 2,000 crore, but these people are not implementing it even though he has sent the money to the state government."
He will vote for his Maharaj out of love and loyalty, and the Congress party has nothing to do with it.
Hartoum Singh, a teacher, agrees with Razak's logic about the people wanting to be on the winning side. That is why they vote for the BJP at the state level and for the Congress at the Centre, he says.
"The Maharaj legacy has continued for three generations after Independence. Rajmata got their votes, Madhavrao got their votes and now his son is getting the votes. Jyotiraditya's children will have to continue working here if they want to preserve the legacy and gain from it. The next generation will not respect the Maharaj if he does not work for them. He should solve their problems and be accessible to them," Singh feels.
He explains that Madhavrao Scindia entered politics young; he was just 26 when he won his first Lok Sabha election in 1971. Jyotiraditya entered politics after his father was killed in an aircrash in September 2000. Singh believes the Stanford-educated Jyotiraditya did not have the kind of experience his father had at his age.
"Jyotiraditya's plus point is his accessibility to the people. He maintains his royal status, but also mingles a lot with the people. Madhavrao never forgot that he was a Maharaj and was not that spontaneous," Singh adds. Unlike his father who became Maharaj when he was just 15 and was head of the Gwalior royal family for more than 39 years, his son was 29 when he inherited the mantle.
Image: Hartoum Singh, a teacher, believes that the next generation will not respect the Maharaj if he does not work for them.
Also see: Who will clean up filthy and feudal Pratapgarh? | India Votes 2009
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