Bikers ride past two hoardings showing Jyotiraditya and Yashodhara Raje Scindia in Shivpuri. Picture by JP Yadav

Shivpuri-Gwalior, Nov. 24: Royalty may not be enough to win elections any more, at least in Madhya Pradesh.

Yashodhara Raje Scindia and Maya Singh, the two faces of royalty in the BJP, are up for a tough fight in Shivpuri and Gwalior East with the people beginning to betray signs they will no longer be swayed by lineage alone.

Yashodhara, 59, the youngest daughter of the Scindia dynasty of Gwalior, is locked in a contest with formidable Congress leader Virendra Raghuvanshi from the family stronghold of Shivpuri.

Maya, 63, part of the Scindia family by marriage and known as “Mamiji”, faces small-time Congress leader Munnalal Goyal in Gwalior East.

Both are MPs — Yashodhara represents Gwalior in the Lok Sabha while Maya is in the Rajya Sabha. BJP leaders say they have jumped into the fray “to serve the people better” and are possibly eyeing ministerial berths if the BJP retains power.

But the people are showing signs of tiring of the charms of royalty, which has traditionally been an assured vote-winner.

“Why should we vote for Maya Singh, who will retreat into her palace after getting elected and will not meet us?” asked Dharmendra Mawaee, an auto-driver in Gwalior.

The people are angry with Yashodhara too — for not bothering about Shivpuri after getting elected as Gwalior MP. She resigned as Shivpuri MLA in 2007 to contest the Gwalior by-election after sitting MP Rambaran Gurjar stepped down over the cash-for-questions scandal.

“She generally avoids meeting people after elections are over. In contrast, the Congress candidate is always available in times of need,” said Sohanlal Rathor, who lives in Shivpuri town.

The people’s anger at Yashodhara spilled out recently. Furious at the abduction and killing of a boy, protesters damaged the statue of Jiwaji Rao, Yashodhara’s father, at the main roundabout of Shivpuri town. They claimed she had shielded a local driver allegedly involved in the boy’s murder since he was associated with her trust.

“Traders are the traditional voters of the BJP. But here they are very angry because the boy who was kidnapped and killed was from their community,” said Jayant Yadav who runs a tea shop.

In contrast, Congress chief campaigner Jyotiraditya Scindia has held his sway over the masses. The people say he regularly meets voters, listens to their problems and tries to solve them.

“Nobody is a king in a democracy. Everybody has to serve the people,” Jyotiraditya had recently said to counter chief minister Chouhan’s allegation that the Congress was dominated by “rajas” and “maharajas”.

The Scindias, however, continue to bask in the air of royalty around them. The chopper that flies Jyotiraditya to campaign sites takes off from the sprawling lawns of the majestic white Jai Vilas Palace in Gwalior. The metalled road from the main palace to the gate is long and wide enough for a copter to take off.

The family continues to live in the palace, a section of which is now a museum. Both Jyotiraditya and Yashodhara live in Jay Vilas Palace. The people here say that, despite political differences, they share a cordial relationship and do not work to pull the other down during elections.

This time, however, Jyotiraditya was seen campaigning against Yashodhara, possibly because of the Congress desperation to regain power in Madhya Pradesh.

Sources said this is possibly the first time he has done such a thing. But even as he addressed a public meeting in Shivpuri, he refrained from taking his aunt’s name.

“If a member of the family loses, it will be a jolt to the name and goodwill of the Scindias. Jyotiraditya would never like his aunt to lose. But what can he do if the people don’t elect her?” wondered Pramod Bhargav, a senior journalist in Shivpuri.

However, Jyotiraditya’s campaign to ensure Maya’s defeat in Gwalior East appears unrelenting. He holds roadshows in the segment every alternate day after his whirlwind chopper campaigns. The people claim this is because she is not related to the Scindias by blood.

“Maya is married to the son of an adopted brother of Rajmata Scindia, the grandmother of Jyotiraditya. Everyone here knows the Scindia family maintains a distance from her,” a local journalist said.