BJP national president Amit Shah would not have imagined such a function even in his worst nightmare. In Shivpuri town on Monday evening, a large crowd gathered for the unveiling of a statue of late Congress leader and former Union minister Madhavrao Scindia.
And on the podium at Do Batti Chouraha in that small town in the northern part of Madhya Pradesh were not just Congress’ MLAs, but BJP leaders as well.
During his visit to this state capital in August, Amit Shah had given clear-cut directions that the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha polls should wrest Congress bastions Chhindwara and Guna-Shivpuri “at any cost”.
But BJP national chief’s dreams of Mission 29 (winning all 29 constituencies) seems to have fallen deaf ears as not just cabinet minister Yashodhara Raje but a legislator and other ruling party leaders joined the function and shared the dais with Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress’ four times MP from Guna-Shivpuri.
On the dais were Congress’ senior legislators KP Singh from Pichhore assembly seat, Ram Niwas Rawat from Vijaypur and Ram Singh Yadav from Kolaras. But also present was Prahlad Bharti the BJP’s MLA from Pohri assembly constituency, along with Dharyavardhan Sharma – a member of the BJP state Working Committee and Bhanu Dubey, BJP Shivpuri Nagar Mandal president. In the audience were Congress and BJP workers extending support to their respective leaders.
In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP riding on the Modi wave grabbed all seats except for Guna-Shivpuri and Chhindwara. No matter how powerful the upsurge for BJP, it still could not defeat Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath. Fifteen months later, the saffron party also failed to retain tribal reserved Ratlam constituency. But Amit Shah wants it all in 2019 irrespective of the stature of Kamal Nath or Scindia and influence in their electoral fortresses.
Speeches of Scindia and Raje were also above party lines. The Congress leader addressed BJP minister Yashodhara Raje as “meri Atya (my aunt)”. Addressing the audience Scindia said that in present day, politics has lost its stature. He said there should be no demarcation on party lines after elections and all should unite to work for people’s welfare and development.
In her speech, Yashodhara Raje referred to Scindia as her “adorable nephew”. She said that Guna-Shivpuri Lok sabha seat was represented by her mother Vijayaraje Scindia as well as her brother Madhavrao Scindia. She said that both her mother and brother contested their first and last elections from the Guna-Shivpuri seat. “They took different ideological routes in politics but went to God by the same road,” she recalled at the programme.
This programme has come as a shocker to many in the ruling BJP. When TOI approached BJP national vice-president Prabhat Jha, he said, “No matter who attended or shared the dais at the function in Shivpuri, ideologically the BJP is not with either Madhavrao Scindia or Jyotiraditya Scindia. The entire BJP stands with our national president Amit Shah and we will do everything under the Sun to snatch Guna and Chhindwara in the next Lok Sabha polls.”
