Union Home Minister Amit Shah was on a day-long tour in Madhya Pradesh during which he unveiled the Hindi version of the textbooks (three books) for the first-year MBBS students and also created a buzz when he visited the Jai Vilas Palace in Gwalior.

The ancestral house of Scindia family hosted Shah for the first time after Jyotiraditya Scindia switched over to the BJP, resulting in the decline of Kamal Nath-led Congress government in March 2020.

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As per the reports, Shah visited Scindia Palace around 3.30 p.m. on Sunday where he was welcomed by the royal family and supporters. Shah also had lunch at the Palace. Later, he reached the mela ground to lay the foundation stone of a new terminal at Gwalior airport, which is to be named after Scindia’s grandmother and (late) Madhavrao Scindia’s mother Vijayaraje Scindia.

The new terminal building will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 446 crore. The new terminal building will have an area of 20,000 sq metres as compared to the existing 3,500 sqm. After the expansion, the airport will have the capacity to park 13 planes as against the existing capacity for three aircraft, an official told IANS.

While addressing the gathering, Shah said, “Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Airport in Gwalior is one of the most modern airports with the latest facilities. With the dedication with which this airport has been carefully planned, I think it will be one of the best airports in the country. Under the leadership of PM Modi, there has been a huge development of infrastructure in the country. Earlier 375 km of the railway line was laid in one year, today 1,458 km is being laid.”

Meanwhile, Shah lauded the work of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, and he also took a dig at the Congress and said, “Madhya Pradesh has experienced the corrupt Congress government and has seen it all.”

Political analysts were of the view that Shah’s visit to Gwalior was scheduled to lay the foundation of the terminal, which is the expansion part of the existing airport in the city, but this visit has several messages for the people in the political gallery, especially for the state BJP unit.

“Shah’s visit to Jai Vilas Palace and having lunch there would be analysed in different aspects of politics, but out of all, one message was clear that Jyotiraditya Scindia’s graph has increased in the BJP. Secondly, it was an indirect reply to those (Congress leaders) who were saying that Scindia would not get as much respect in the BJP as he used to get in the Congress,” said a political observer in Madhya Pradesh.

Another political analyst claimed that inviting Shah to his hometown, Scindia has played to masterstroke to give an apt reply to his old political opponents, especially within the Madhya Pradesh BJP unit. “Defeat in the Lok Sabha election from his family bastion — Guna was a major setback for Jyotiraditya Scindia. After he joined the BJP, he received another setback when the BJP lost the mayoral seat in Gwalior against the Congress. Now, when the state Assembly elections are just a few months away, and Scindia’s name is already doing rounds for the leadership in Madhya Pradesh, this visit of Shah will give an extra edge to him,” political analysts said.

Scindia was personally monitoring the preparations for the event in Gwalior for the last few days. The BJP leaders, who are considered Scindia’s loyalists and are the ministers in Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cabinet, were assigned specific roles for this event. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and some other state ministers were present on the occasion.