Maharaj Scindia likely to join Saffron BJP in Bhopal on March 12
NEW DELHI/ BHOPAL: Ending his 18 years association with the Congress party, Jyotiraditya Scindia will join BJP on March 12, said sources. Scindia will first go to Gwalior on Thursday after which he will reach Bhopal with his supporters.
After Scindia’s resignation, BJP’s Central Election Committee chaired a meeting led by PM Modi at the BJP headquarters on Tuesday evening. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari also took part in the meeting.
Earlier on Tuesday Scindia(49) posted his resignation letter on Twitter addressing Congress president Sonia Gandhi and wrote that it is time for him to “move on”. Hinting at the growing tension within Congress, Scindia in his resignation letter said, ”I am tendering my resignation from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress and as you well know, this is a path that has been drawing itself out over the last year.”
In the resignation letter dated March 9, Scindia stated that even after leaving the party his aim and purpose will remain the same. He said, “While my aim and purpose remain the same as it has always been from the very beginning, to serve the people of my state and country, I believe I am unable to do this anymore within this party.”
Meanwhile, Jyotiraditya Scindia’s son Mahanaryaman Scindia praised his father’s decision and said it to be a “courageous” decision. Taking to Twitter he wrote, “I am proud of my father for taking a stand for himself. It takes courage to resign from a legacy. History can speak for itself when I say my family has never been power-hungry. As promised we will make an impactful change in India and Madhya Pradesh wherever our future lies.”
Before his resignation, Scindia met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in presence of Home Minister Amit Shah. Scindia also met BJP president JP Nadda before confirming his association with BJP.
The fresh political crisis in Madhya Pradesh started on Monday (March 9) evening after around 20 MLAs, including ministers, supporting Scindia went incommunicado. Scindia was angry for being sidelined in the party for the last one year and he was also keen to become the state Congress chief but was denied the post.
Soon after Scindia announced his resignation and 20 MLAs went incommunicado, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath swung into action and called an emergency meeting of senior leaders at his residence.
Scindia joined politics in the year 2001 after his father Madhavrao Jivajirao Scindia died in an air-crash. Scindia has been an MP from Guna until 2019 .In 2018 assembly elections, Congress won 114 seats in the 230-member Assembly and formed the government with the support of four Independent MLAs and two BSP MLAs and a legislator from the Samajwadi Party (SP). The BJP had secured 109 seats in the state assembly.
It is evident that Jyotiraditya Scindia’s big revolt with at least 21 MLAs in tow that has made the collapse of the Kamal Nath government all but certain has triggered rumblings inside the party – the latest instalment of tumult in the 135-year-old outfit wracked by a leadership crisis at the top.
Some members in the party say the optics of not reaching out to the 49-year-old, known to be a close confidante of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for years, does not bode well for it. The Gandhi family, which governs the party, should have made a last ditch effort to stop him, sources in party said requesting not to be named.
“They should have rushed to his residence and tried to meet him even though he claimed to have swine flu,” one leader said. Scindia was promptly expelled for “anti-party” activities minutes after the upset party leader shared his letter of resignation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Twitter.
Mr Scindia, who made it clear that he expected to be rewarded for his work in the party’s victory in the 2018 assembly election, was passed over for the Chief Minister’s post and the top job in the party’s state unit.
Lately, the party hinted that his wish for a safe Rajya Sabha seat may not be granted – an issue that’s seen as a trigger for his move to the BJP. Along with him, his 21 loyalists resigned – pushing the Kamal Nath government on the brink of collapse.
Some senior Congress hands close to Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who has a history of friction with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, also said that the party veteran should have been more magnanimous than attack Mr Scindia.
Saying he betrayed the “trust of the people and the ideology” Mr Gehlot took little time to dub him as a leader with “self-indulgent political ambitions”. In Mr Pilot, the Rajasthan CM too has had to contend with a younger, ambitious leader signalling that his role to play in the party’s victory deserves a big reward.
The latest crisis in the Congress comes amid growing voices in the party over its failure to find a new president after Rahul Gandhi’s resignation following the national election debacle last year that thrust his mother Sonia Gandhi back into the hot seat as interim chief.
(Bureau Report with agency inputs ).
