Bhopal, May 15: Rahul Gandhi's ascendancy is set to change equations in the Madhya Pradesh Congress.

Although the party vice-president is yet to formally take over as the chief, the Jyotiraditya Scindia camp in Bhopal has reportedly spread word that their leader is tipped to become AICC general secretary in Team Rahul.

The Congress organisational polls are due later this year. The polls need not be an elaborate exercise, though, and can be conducted with a stroke of pen - a Congress Working Committee resolution crowning Rahul and empowering him with authority to bring sweeping changes at all levels.

The Jyotiraditya camp is confident Digvijaya Singh, former chief minister and currently AICC general secretary, will head back to Bhopal as president of the state unit, a demotion of sorts. So far, Digvijaya - at 67 several years senior to Jyotiraditya who is 44 - was perceived as being close to Rahul. He was part of the farmer's rally organised in Delhi last month when the party vice-president returned from his sabbatical.

But a few days later, Jyotiraditya was seen accompanying Rahul on his tour of Punjab to meet farmers. In the budget session that ended on Wednesday, Jyotiraditya was seen surrounding Rahul in the Lok Sabha often, prompting and cheering during his speeches and interventions on the land bill, Internet neutrality and other issues.

The Digvijaya-Scindia rivalry goes back several decades. Jyotiraditya's father, the late Madhavrao Scindia, resented Digvijaya's spectacular rise that saw the former raja of Raghogarh twice become chief minister, from 1993 to 2003.

The Raghogarh principality falls under erstwhile Gwalior empire of the Scindias. Senior Congress leaders of that era felt Scindia could not stomach someone hailing from their turf going on to rule all of Madhya Pradesh.

Scindia died in an air-crash on September 30, 2001, at the age of 56, his life-long ambition of becoming chief minister remaining unfulfilled.

Scindia's death had brought a young Jyotiraditya close to Digvijaya, albeit briefly. Speaking in Jyotiraditya's parliamentary constituency Guna in 2008, Digvijaya had described the then MP as a "polished diamond" and himself as an "astute" judge of gems.

However, the temporary truce unravelled in the Assembly polls that year when Jyotiraditya fancied himself as the unofficial chief ministerial candidate. It was said in Congress circles that like father Madhavrao, Jyotiraditya showed little patience with party workers and reportedly missed his active social life in Delhi. Before the young royal would fly to a campaign site, his family cook would be there, preparing his meal. If it was spaghetti with ginger chicken in Chanderi, it was chicken in tartar sauce at some other venue. The Congress ended up licking wounds.

On his part, Jyotiraditya and his supporters claimed they faced resistance from a powerful section of party workers in almost every district of the state.

Out of power since December 2003, Congress leaders and workers in the state now want a semblance of unity.

The Digvijaya camp has not reacted to talk by Jyotiraditya loyalists about the senior leader being shifted back to Bhopal.