Scindia Son Rises In MP

BHOPAL: If PCC chief and now CM-in-waiting Kamal Nath was the strategist,MP Jyotiraditya Scindia was the spearhead of the election campaign that led to a historic Congress victory in MP.
Scindia was the aggressive, young face of Congress — a party that had shaken off its old ghosts and was raring to take on BJP’s might, tooth-and-nail, booth for booth.
Scindia hit the ground running after being appointed state Congress campaign committee president and motivated cadres to take on BJP.
Kamal Nath and Scindia had been appointed to their respective posts just six months before the polls when the BJP felt it was all set to return to power once again. They came to Bhopal together on May 1 and their roadshow from airport to PCC headquarters itself provided the much-needed impetus to party cadres to gear up for polls with a positive mindset.
As Nath streamlined the party, which was in a shambles, Scindia launched his “Parivartan Yatra” from Ujjain after offering prayers to Lord Mahakal on May 11. He covered Ujjain, Indore, Shyampur and Sardarpur in the first leg of his “Parivartan Yatra”. It was this yatra, that set the tone for the gung-ho Congress campaign for polls.
“Vote for Change” – sometimes party used the word “Parivartan” and sometimes “Badlav” — but the underlying theme of the party campaign was “Call for change with the Congress”. Simultaneously with the “Parivartan Yatra”, he visited all 11 divisional headquarters, held meetings with party office-bearers up to block level in a particular division and formed party’s campaign committee up to the block level. He interacted with them on issues that should be taken up to create an atmosphere against the ruling dispensation and motivate voters for change.
His “Parivartan Yatra” reached as many as 45 out of 52 districts in the state. Scindia also accompanied Congress president Rahul Gandhi in all his meetings except 10, which he addressed in the later part of campaigning and Scindia was busy holding his own roadshows and meetings.
Between November 12 and 26, Scindia addressed 110 rallies and held 12 roadshows at different places in the state. He also interacted with group of people from different walks of life at 12 places, beginning from Sagar town.
Scindia, often accused of restricting himself within the boundaries of erstwhile Scindia empire, broke all boundaries this time round with the sole intention to bring his party back to power.