THE HOUSE OF SCINDIAS
Political historian and journalist Rasheed Kidwai is out with his fifth book. Titled The House of Scindias, the book takes a look at one of India’s most talked about political dynasties. Jyotiraditya Scindia was recently in the news when he crossed over from the Congress to the BJP, but his two aunts, Vasundhara Raje and Yashodhara Raje too draw their own share of headlines. Vasundhara specially has been holding her own in Rajasthan, taking on not just the Congress but also a section of her own party, which is no mean feat. In fact, one could argue that while the Scindia men got their share of media and political attention, it’s the feisty Scindia ladies who deserve special mention for holding their own, defending their political and personal space. With Jyotiraditya crossing over to the BJP it completes the saffronization of the Scindias. But despite both his aunts welcoming him to the party, there remains a sort of turf war within the family, perhaps because the Scindias are still engaged in a property litigation. Of the two aunts, it is Yashodhara who is the more outspoken and Rasheed reveals an interesting nugget that highlights the undercurrents within the family. When Yashodhara’s son Akshay was to get married she had planned a reception at the family’s Jai Vilas palace in Gwalior. But the night before the event, she discovered that someone had ordered that the lawns be watered and so she could not hold the event there as the wet grass would spoil the guests’ finery. She had to shift the reception to a hotel nearby, and well, one can only guess who gave the orders for the lawns to be watered. Now that the family is united ideologically perhaps the property issues can be sorted too and the Scindias will truly be one Hindu Undivided Family.
Kidwai is truly the master of the anecdote and there are lots of nuggets in these pages that add to the political tale. The book comes at a time when four members of the Scindia family are in active politics and makes for an interesting read.