Scindia home town feels orphaned

gwalior/bhopal: predictably enough, madhavrao scindia's death came as a bolt from the blue to most people in gwalior, the seat of scindia power and influence. no sooner was the news out on tv that commercial establishments downed shutters, and the entire city was engulfed by gloom. shops which refused to close were forced to pull down their shutters.sporadic incidents of violence were reported. certain shops selling television sets were, however, an exception, around whom people milled to hear the latest news updates. commissioner (gwalior division) bimal julka told the times news network that thousands of people made a beeline to the jaivilas palace at around 5 pm to offer their condolences. many were weeping. the palace, however, was empty, except for the adcs and other staffers. most of its inmates, relatives included, had already left for delhi. julka said the police had been asked to make strict security arrangements. more than 10 lakh people from the gwalior and chambal divisions were expected in the funeral on october 3. scindia's mortal remains are expected to be brought to the palace on october 2, where they will be kept for a day to give his admirers a chance to pay homage. prime minister vajpayee and congress president sonia gandhi are expected to attend the funeral. rajendra singh, a loyalist of chief minister digvijay singh, and among scindia's acknowledged rivals, confessed his death was a huge setback for the region's overall development. ''he was a good speaker and gwalior's only real hope.'' gwalior mp jaibhan singh pavvaya, who lost by a whisker to scindia in the 1998 lok sabha polls said, ''i used to take his advise on local matters irrespective of our political differences. he was like a big brother to me.'' speculations were also rife as to who would be the successor to scindia's guna parliamentary seat. there seemed to be a general consensus that the mantle would be donned by his son jyotiraditya.