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Ramesh Menon in Gwalior
On 6 October 6, 2001 Madhavrao Scindia was planning to subtly launch his son, Jyotiraditya, into politics.
But fate willed otherwise.
Madhavrao's plan was to organise a marathon run in Gwalior that was expected to be a launch pad for Jyotiraditya into Congress politics.
There are still numerous wall paintings and posters in Gwalior, which call upon the public to make the run a marathon success. A reminder of what could have happened and how a tragedy changed it all. The run has been cancelled.
Sources said that Madhavrao hit upon the marathon idea, as it was very popular in Gwalior.
Two years back, the Bharatiya Janata Party had hit upon the idea and had made it into an annual feature.
The party had organised a marathon run on June 18, the death anniversary of Rani Laxmibai, to celebrate her valour of rising in revolt against the British in the 1857 mutiny.
History records say that Scindias did not support Rani Laxmibai at that time.
The BJP lost no opportunity in rubbing it in.
The marathon was more of a political opportunity that the BJP used to attack the Scindias, as the very mention of Laxmibai was seen as an anti-palace stance.
As it got good response, the idea seemed worth continuing, said Jaibhansingh Pavaiya, the BJP MP from Gwalior who was in the forefront of organising it.
When Jyotiraditya returned from the United States after getting a degree in business management a few weeks ago, Madhavrao had got local organisations that were close to the Congress to arrange a public felicitation for him.
That was to bring Jyotiraditya into the public eye.
This was of course scoffed at by the BJP.
Pointed out Dr H M Purohit, BJP activist and representative of Pavaiya in the Gwalior Muncipal Corporation: "What is so great about getting a MBA degree and that too when you are thirty years old? It was really ridiculous as over 400 youngsters get their MBA degree every year from Gwalior's Jiwaji University. This was done just to create some political hype about him and create an atmosphere for him to contest from Gwalior."
Pavaiya who won by over 90,000 votes in the last Lok Sabha elections from Gwalior said: "It is not going to be easy for Jyotiraditya to contest from the city now. The Congress has a bleak future in the state now."
Political observers said that Jyotiraditya would definitely contest from Guna when the by-election to fill Madhavrao's seat takes place.
If he does, he is fated to win by a very huge margin, as there would be a massive sympathy wave, said observers.
If there is any opposition candidate, it will be only as a symbolic gesture.
Dr Purohit said: "Soon, we will see that Madhavrao's death actually launched Jyotiraditya into politics."
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