Dark clouds loomed large over the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh after a turf war between the Chief Minister Kamal Nath and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. It is now being speculated that Jyotiraditya Scindia may join Bharatiya Janata Party after a tussle with Sonia Gandhi.
Jyotiraditya Scindia is an Indian politician who hails from the Scindia family. He is a grandson of Jivajirao Scindia, the last Maharaja of the princely state of Gwalior. Scindia represents the Guna constituency in the state of Madhya Pradesh. He has been a Minister of State with independent charge for Power in the cabinet of prime minister Manmohan Singh from October 2012 until May 2014.
Madhya Pradesh government has plunged into a political crisis after Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital.
CM Kamal Nath summoned a late-night meeting of his cabinet in which around 20 ministers of the state government resigned in an attempt to allow the chief minister to reconstitute the cabinet and placate the ‘rebel’ Congress MLAs.
As per reports, BJP has also called for a meeting its MLAs in an emergency meeting in Bhopal. Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is likely to be the chief minister again if Scindia quits Congress and joins BJP.
It is believed that Scindia is leading a faction of ‘rebel’ Congress MLAs. Surprisingly, he was at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg along with Home Minister and former BJP chief Amit Shah to meet PM Modi.
It all started when Scindia threatened to take to the streets if his party’s government in Madhya Pradesh failed to meet the demands of protesting guest teachers.
When CM Kamal Nath was asked about Scindia’s threat, he said, “Toh woh utar jaaye (let him do so).”
Scindia had lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election from his family bastion Guna constituency. He lost to Bharatiya Janata Party’s Krishna Pal Yadav by a margin of 1,25,549 votes.
Prior to Jyotiraditya, his father Madhavrao Scindia, the erstwhile titular ruler of Gwalior, had won the seat in the 1999 elections. Madhavrao lost his life in the year 2001 and since then Jyotriditya Scindia has been representing the seat. What’s interesting is that he was among the only two leaders who were able to win the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
The Congress party has been trying to convince Scindia not leaving the party but he does not seem to be in a mood to talk. It has been learnt that 17 Congress MLAs including 6 MPs from Scindia’s camp had reached Bengaluru.