Jyotiraditya Scindia quits congress, may join BJP soon
Mangalore Today News Network
Bhopal, March 10, 2020: Former Union Minister and four-time parliamentarian Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the Congress this morning, shortly after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.
Sources have said he may join the BJP, either today or on Saturday, and be nominated to the Rajya Sabha as its member. Shortly after his resignation 20 Congress MLAs sent letters of resignation, sources within Madhya Pradesh Raj Bhavan said. Earlier sources said 25 MLAs were ready to resign. Should these be accepted, the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government will be reduced to a minority and likely be toppled.
Points to ponder
1) In dramatic developments this Holi morning, Jyotiraditya Scindia met PM Modi and Amit Shah. Shortly after, he posted a letter of resignation on his Twitter account. In the letter, which is dated March 9 and is addressed to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Mr Scindia said: "...this is a path that has been drawing itself out over the last year".
2) "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 am unable to do this anymore within this party," he wrote.
3) Minutes after Jyotiraditya Scindia posted the letter, the Congress hit back by expelling the 49-year-old former Guna MP from the party. In a terse statement issued by party General Secretary KC Venugopal, the Congress said Mr Scindia stood expelled "with immediate effect" for "anti-party activities".
4) Madhya Pradesh BJP MLAs will meet at a hotel in the city at 7 pm. Sources have said Jyotiraditya Scindia will join the BJP at 6 pm as well - at the party headquarters in Delhi and in the presence of PM Modi. At its Bhopal meeting the BJP is expected to stake claim to the government. The party is likely to present former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as its chief ministerial candidate.
5) Veteran Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, who led a "rescue" operation last week after 10 MLAs were allegedly held hostage by the BJP at a resort near Delhi, hit out today at a "conspiracy" to unseat the government. Mr Singh, who had alleged MLAs had been offered Rs 35 crore, also accused BJP leader and Mr Chouhan of lying.
6) In response Mr Chouhan criticised the Congress over "double standards", saying: "For some Congress leaders when Scindia was in Congress he was a maharaja, now he is a mafia?" He was referring to a comment by Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in which he accused "mafia" of destabilising his government. Mr Chouhan also termed developments as "internal matter" of the ruling party.
7) As the drama continued, Congress MLA Bisahu Lal, one of those who had resigned, joined the BJP in the presence of Mr Chouhan. Addressing reporters Mr Lal claimed there were several other Congress leaders waiting to join the BJP.
8) Mr Scindia had reportedly been unhappy with Congress leadership for quite some time. Once close to the Gandhi family, he had been passed over for chief ministership in 2018 after he showed support of only 23 MLAs, despite a sizeable contribution to the Congress’ surprising Assembly polls win. In August, he was one of a few opposition leaders who openly supported the centre over its contentious Article 370 move.
9) Congress’s Sachin Pilot and Karan Singh had been deputed to lead reconciliation efforts. Sources told NDTV the party had offered to make Mr Scindia its first preference candidate for one of three vacant Rajya Sabha posts from the state.
10) As of this morning Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s government had 120 MLAs - just four over the majority mark of 116 in the 230-member Assembly. If the resignation of the 20 MLAs is accepted, the majority mark will be 106; the BJP will have 107 and the Congress 97. The rest are held by the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and independents.