Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had barely begun speaking at a ceremony of the Kushwaha hostel when a group of men started waving black flags in Gwalior on Monday, triggering a scuffle between rival groups and a police intervention. Gwalior’s corridors were soon abuzz with talk that the protesters were linked to supporters of local BJP MP Bharat Singh Kushwaha, reportedly upset over their leader being left out of the guest list. Without naming the MP, minister and local MLA Narayan Singh Kushwaha said the protesters had been “misled by an influential politician.” No names, just pointed words. In Gwalior, even a guest list can become a political battlefield.
Bageshwar Baba set to go on 500 km rath yatra
Five days. Five districts. 500km—and a slogan with an unmistakable political resonance. Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Baba, is set to hit the road from October 11 with a rath yatra for the cause of making India a ‘Hindu rashtra’. The chariot will roll through MP’s Bundelkhand—Panna, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh and Tikamgarh districts—with Hanuman Chalisa havans at night halts. Officially, it is a religious mobilisation. But the political buzz is hard to miss. With neighbouring UP heading towards polls in less than six months, eyes are on whether Bageshwar Baba’s Bundelkhand roadshow creates ripples across the border.
35-year-old legal twist to Cong’s Datia victory
The Congress victory in Datia by-poll seems to have run into an old legal hurdle. BJP functionary and advocate Deepak Belpatri has moved the MP High Court seeking annulment of MLA Ghanshyam Singh’s July 30 bypoll win, alleging that his affidavit omitted a 1991 criminal case. The case dates back to a protest and road blockade after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, when police booked 22 people, including Singh. While Singh disclosed two other cases, the petitioner alleges this one was missing. Singh defeated BJP’s Ashutosh Tiwari by over 7,000 votes. Now, the 1991 case is threatening to become the newest chapter in Datia’s political drama.
Anuraag singh
Our correspondent in Madhya Pradesh
singhanuraag.jaurno@gmail.com