Lok Sabha polls: BJP & Congr battle it out in Gwalior

Gwalior: Two candidates, who had lost in the assembly polls, will be slugging it out on the BJP and Congress tickets this time for the Gwalior Lok Sabha constituency seat, where both the national parties secured an equal number of four assembly segments each in the recently-held assembly polls.

BJP has fielded Bharat Singh Khushwaha, a confidant of former Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. As on other seats, the BJP is seeking votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ram temple and the work done by Union government.

The Congress candidate is Praveen Pathak who is trying to make the election as local as possible, and talking about schools, hospitals and jobs. Pathak had unsuccessfully contested from Gwalior South in the recently held assembly polls while Khushwaha lost from Gwalior rural.
Except for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the constituency has always seen a tough fight between the two big national parties.

BSP is just a marginal third player here, having received 5% to 13% votes in the last several Lok Sabha polls. The party has fielded Kalyan Gurjar who was in the Congress.
An auto rickshaw driver near Achaleshwar Mandir, Mohan Lal, a Koli SC by caste, says, “Pathak has developed schools and ‘padha likha ladka hai’ (educated young man) but then people will see that it is an election for Modi.”
There is appreciation from Pathak, especially for the development of schools and providing free stationary, during his term as MLA in his constituency, Gwalior south.

But as one moves outside the town limits, caste becomes a prominent factor. At Bhitarwar bus stand, Krishan Singh Gurjar talks about his caste people not being given representation but says he has heard good things about Pathak.

Many of the locals see Pathak as an educated urban youth while Khushwaha is seen as a caste leader from a rural background.

Also, the lack of the presence of the royal scion of Gwalior, Jyotiraditya Scindia (who is busy with the Lok Sabha election from Guna) has also created some tensions for the BJP.

In this vast Lok Sabha constituency with more than 20 lakh voters, there are 2.25 lakh Jatav voters, 1.85 lakh Thakurs, 1.75 lakh Brahmins, 1.5 lakh each Khushwahas, Gurjars, Kirars and Vaishayas.