Priyadarshini Raje Scindia, wife of senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, began an eight-day tour of her husband’s Guna Lok Sabha constituency on Monday, amid speculation that he was planning to vacate the seat for her.
Ms. Scindia reached the Shivpuri Assembly constituency by road from Gwalior in the afternoon and addressed a meeting of women party workers. In the coming days, she is scheduled to spend a full day in each of the eight Assembly segments of the Guna parliamentary constituency. She will meet party workers and address meetings, State Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said.
Family pocket borough
The Guna Lok Sabha seat has been represented by Mr. Scindia’s grandmother Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia and his late father Madhavrao. Mr. Scindia has been representing the seat since 2002, after it fell vacant owing to his father’s death a year earlier. He survived the Modi wave in 2014 when his party won just two of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in the State.
The Congress won five Assembly seats in the November 2018 State elections out of the eight segments constituting the Guna parliamentary constituency.
There is speculation that Mr. Scindia is planning to vacate the Guna Lok Sabha seat for his wife as he has been given charge of western Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming general election and may not be able to devote enough time to his constituency.
A graduate from Mumbai’s Sophia College, Ms. Scindia comes from the erstwhile Gaekwad royalty of Baroda.
