Jyotiraditya at a farmers’ rally near Gwalior. (PTI)

Bhopal, Feb. 17: The royal feud between “raja” Digvijay Singh and “maharaja” Jyotiraditya Scindia is turning ugly as the former chief minister tries to intrude into the Scindias’ Gwalior turf.

Without naming Digvijay, a Congress general secretary, party MP Jyotiraditya today questioned his integrity and accused him of working against the Congress’s interests.

On the face of it, both are on the same side in the March 8 byelection to the Gwalior Lok Sabha seat as their party gears to take on BJP candidate Yashodhararaje Scindia.

But family faithfuls say that Jyotiraditya, mindful of the Scindia tradition, is diffident about fighting too hot a battle against his aunt.

He has been dithering over fielding a strong nominee, and two of his loyalists, Mahendra Singh Kalukheda and Balendu Shukla, have ruled out contesting against “princess” Yashodhara.

Seeing his chance, Digvijay — “raja” of Raghaogarh, which was a principality under the erstwhile Gwalior empire — has proposed his lieutenant and hotelier Ashok Singh’s name.

To Jyotiraditya, this is a direct challenge to his sway over the Gwalior Congress.

Today, at a rally attended by Union home minister Shivraj Patil, he said: “A person who first resolved not to occupy any party post and then accepted a key post (AICC general secretary) cannot be viewed as working in the Congress’s interests. He (recently) assaulted an innocent person in Ujjain and accused Shivpuri’s farmers of power theft.”

Jyotiraditya, MP from Guna, had recently accused Digvijay of flouting the AICC diktat against holding “personal rallies”, saying his move smacked of indiscipline and might harm the party.

Digvijay, though, would be heartened by Scindia family retainer and BJP leader Sardar Angre’s claim that Jyotiraditya would not “dare” oppose a fellow Scindia. “It has been a Scindia tradition and I will be very surprised if the code is broken,” the octogenarian said from Mumbai.