Shivpuri

The biggest question that haunts the voters in this constituency is whether Yashodhra Raje Scindia, the scion of erstwhile rulers of Gwalior would contest the polls. Yashodhraje, who won this seat in 1998 on a BJP ticket sprang a surprise when she decided to quit from party post a couple of months, apparently hurt over being ignored by the party.

Her decision to quit party post had led to a stir within the BJP state unit and efforts have been made to mollify her. The BJP still needs her because being a part of the Gwalior state Scindias have a great influence on the population here.

Yashodhara Raje had made her debut in political arena during the 1998 assembly elections and won defeating the Congress candidate Harivallabh Shukla.

The Scindia family still wields great influence in the region and this is one factor even her critics in the BJP cannot afford to ignore. Despite the strain in relations, for the BJP still, Yashodhara Raje is the best bet in Shivpuri.

In the 1980 and 1985 assembly polls Ganeshram Gautam of the Congress won from here by comfortable margins while in 1990 Gautam was defeated by independent candidate Sushil Bahadur Asthana. The BJP has managed to get its presence felt in Shivpuri only in the 1993 elections when its candidate Devendra Kumar Jain defeated the Congress candidate Sanwal das Gupta by a margin of about 3,800 votes.

Shivpuri derives its name from God "Shiva". It was known earlier by the name 'Sipri'.  Shivpuri first found a mention during Mughal times in 1564 when Emperor Akbar is stated to have halted at this place. It has a very big ancient fort and a wealth of history behind. The district was known as Narwar district during the times of Gwalior State, although its Headquarter was at Shivpuri. Shivpuri remained with the Kachhawaha Rajputs upto 1804 when it was taken over by Scindia's. It was captured by the English in 1817 but returned to Scindia's next year and it continued to be a part of Gwalior state since then. In 1859 it is said that the great Indian leader Tatya Tope was hanged near the present Collectorate.

Maharaja Madhav Rao Scindia paid much attention towards the development of Shivpuri. He constructed a big palace and also undertook several development projects for the city. It was the summer capital of Gwalior State and government offices were shifted here in summer months.