Party unity was at Scindia's heart

By Lalit Shastri

GWALIOR, OCT. 5. In the untimely demise of Madhavrao Scindia, Madhya Pradesh, his home State, has lost a beloved ``Maharaja'', a man of the masses.

Scion of the illustrious ruling family of Gwalior, Scindia represented the Guna seat in Parliament. He has left an indelible mark as a parliamentarian winning nine Lok Sabha elections without losing even once. He even trounced the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, once from Gwalior.

A towering figure in Madhya Pradesh politics, Scindia always acted as a cementing force whenever the State Congress factions were at loggerheads working against the party's interests.

He was the architect of the now-famous Dabra spirit. Prior to the 1993 Assembly election, the Madhya Pradesh Congress unit was a divided house and there were apprehensions in Congress circles that lack of party unity might shatter their electoral prospects. It was at this juncture that Scindia organised a convention at Dabra, near Gwalior, and brought on one platform the warring party leaders. A grand show of unity, it eventually brought the Congress to power in Madhya Pradesh in December 1993.

At the next Assembly election in 1998, once again the Congress faced the problem of inner-party rivalry and dissension. The prospects were bleak for the Congress. Many State Ministers facing corruption charges were denied the ticket.

In such adverse circumstances, it was once again Scindia's Dabra spirit or in other words - the formula of unity - that did wonders and contributed to a large extent in bringing the Congress party back to power for a second consecutive term.

Scindia is known as a man of principles who worked tirelessly for the larger good of the people, his own party and the country. People here say that his efforts were not aimed at enlarging his own support base at the legislature level in Madhya Pradesh but were focussed on spreading the party ideology and shaping its policies at the national level.

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Section  : National
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