February 27: ``Whether you like it or not, India is a feudal country,'' says Sardar Angre, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia's closest ally. How else does one explain the Scindia phenomenon here in their summer capital and shikargar, where the Rajmata has not done a single hour's campaigning herself and no one doubts a landslide in her favour?Across the street from the BJP office in Shivpuri, Chief Minister Digvijay Singh is describing his rival party as Bharatiya Chanda (donation) Party. His speech is full of sarcasm but he ends by saying, ``Pujaniya Rajmatajihas always praised my efforts and so I'll not say anything against her''.
How could he? After all, he is a mere Jagirdar of a small principality called Raghogarh within the erstwhile Gwalior state. He cannot begin to speak a sentence without referring to her as ``Amma Maharaj'' and ``Hukum''.
The fact is that the Rajmata is also idolised by her subjects. ``It's like voting for my mother, she has that kind of reverence here,'' says Habun who runs a teastall. Despite her apparent absence from her constituency for long periods, Rajmata has consistently polled over 70 per cent of votes every time. And despite complaints of no developmental work, Shivpuri has nicely developed as a VIP district.
In Rajmata's absence, the campaign is being run by Angre and Yashodhara Raje. Around the time when Rajmata filed her nomination papers and fell ill, Yashodhara had filed her papers but they had been rejected on a technical ground. Typically, this is being blamed on Angre and a palace intrigue. Angre admits he did not want Yashodhara to contest, ``She would have lost and in a year when we are talking of making Vajpayee prime minister, we cannot afford to take chances.''
The most noticeable thing about the campaigning here is the anti-palace plank of the Scindias' opponents. In Guna-Shivpuri, Congress has fielded a ``garib kisan ka beta'' Devendra Singh Raghuvanshi and in Gwalior the BJP's Pavaiyya is shouting ``Raja nahin kisan chahiye.'' The irony is bothRaghuvanshi and Pavaiyaa love to call themselves ``Kunwar''.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
