Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Jyotiraditya Scindia filed his nomination papers for the Guna parliamentary seat on Tuesday for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
After worshipping, Mr Scindia told news agency ANI, "I have just taken the blessings of the 'Tekri sarkar' and now we are moving forward on the path of public service."
The Congress party has fielded Rao Yadavendra Singh against Mr Scindia for the seat.
The Guna Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh has long been synonymous with the Scindia family's political dominance. It is regarded as their stronghold, second only to Gwalior, and has been represented by prominent Scindia family members over the years.
Notably, Vijayaraje Scindia, Madhavrao Scindia, and Jyotiraditya Scindia have all seen electoral success here. Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress emerged victorious in four elections here before losing to BJP's Krishnapal Singh Yadav in 2019 Lok Sabha polls by 1.25 lakh votes.
Mr Scindia's defeat on his own turf by 1.25 lakh votes set in motion a series of events, including an internal party struggle, eventually resulting in Scindia's exit from the party in 2020.
He took 22 MLAs with him, causing the collapse of the then Congress government led by Kamal Nath that had come to power in 2018. The BJP brought Scindia into Parliament via the Rajya Sabha and made him a Union minister.
Mr Scindia is contesting again from the same Guna seat on the BJP symbol this time, while the rival congress candidate Rao Yadvendra Singh is also a former BJP leader and is contesting against the union minister.
Guna will go to the polls in the third phase on May 7, along with eight other parliamentary seats in the state.
Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh will be conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling would be held on April 19, followed by April 26, May 7 and May 13.
Madhya Pradesh has a total of 29 Lok Sabha constituencies, making it the sixth-largest state in terms of parliamentary representation. Out of these, 10 seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates, while the remaining 19 are unreserved.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the BJP secured a massive victory in Madhya Pradesh, winning 28 out of the 29 seats. The Indian National Congress (INC) managed to win only one seat.
