‘Cong is not what it used to be’: Scindia joins BJP
... I can say that the aim of jan seva (public service) cannot be accomplished by being in the other party (Congress)… So, I took this decision to be a part of the country’s progress
JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA, BJP leader
NEW DELHI: Former Union minister, four-time parliamentarian, a pillar of the Congress’s younger generation of leaders and a key figure in Madhya Pradesh (MP) politics, Jyotiraditya Scindia, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, a day after his sudden resignation from the Congress party brought the Kamal Nath-led government in MP precariously close to a collapse.
Flanked by BJP chief JP Nadda, who welcomed him effusively, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and a host of senior party leaders, Scindia said his decision was borne out of his pain at being unable to serve the people while being in the Congress. He also lashed out at the grand old party for being in denial and said it is not the same party that it used to be, and praised the leadership of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
Just hours after his entry, the BJP nominated Scindia as the party candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections from MP. Three seats for the upper house fall vacant in the state.
“I always believed that our aim should be jan seva (public service) and politics should be a medium for that. But I can say that the aim of jan seva cannot be accomplished by being in the other party (Congress). The Congress is not what it used to be…so, I took this decision to be a part of the country’s progress,” he said.
Pointing out that no government has got the mandate from people like PM Modi, he praised the PM for his development schemes, effective delivery of these schemes, reforms centred around “Vikas” and his commitment to the nation’s security. ”The country is completely secure in the hands of PM Modi.”
Scindia, who thanked PM Modi, home minister Amit Shah and Nadda for welcoming him in the family and giving him a platform, described March 10, the day that he exited from the Congress, as one of the two lifechanging days of his life. The first, he said, was September 30, 2001 when he lost his father. Scindia underscored that the Congress was not the party that it had been and had been living in denial.
Welcoming him to the party fold, Nadda recalled the role Jyotiraditya’s grandmother Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia played in the early years of the Jana Sangh, the precursor of the BJP, and in helping disseminate its ideology across the country. “He is joining his family and we welcome him,” Nadda said, adding that Scindia will have a larger role to play in the party. He also took a jibe at the Congress by saying that BJP is a democratic party where every individual has a say.
“BJP is the rightful instrument for changing the destiny of the country,” Nadda said.
Scindia also used the occasion to criticise the MP government, saying people in the state had given the Congress a mandate that the party failed to meet. “I had a dream when Congress formed the government in Madhya Pradesh in 2018…18 months later, none of the promises are met including the ones for farmers and the unemployed,” he said.
Scindia, who had earlier threatened to hit the streets against the state government’s failure to meet the promise of farm loan waiver and appointment of ad-hoc teachers, also alleged corruption is rampant in Madhya Pradesh. “Transfer industry is flourishing in Madhya Pradesh… dream lies shattered, whether it was about waiving farmers’ loans or compensating farmers for the crop damaged due to natural reasons. Hundreds of farmers continue to face various court cases in Mandsaur,” he said.
The Congress criticised Scindia, and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi broke his silence about the exit of one of his closest political associates. “He was the only one who could walk into my house anytime,” Gandhi said in his first comments about
Scindia joining the BJP. Gandhi also retweeted an old image of him, with both MP CM Kamal Nath and Scindia soon after the state elections at the end of 2018.
Asked about the development at a news conference, Congress leader Anand Sharma said: “It is sad, shocking and unfortunate. It is the party which nurtured him, gave him the profile and projection, respect and position. That is all. We have nothing more to add. He was nurtured in this party and was ideologically committed, and had taken firm ideological positions against the BJP both inside and outside Parliament. Only he can explain the change of heart; it is not for me to say anything further.”
Congress leader and Rajasthan’s deputy CM Sachin Pilot tweeted: “Unfortunate to see @Jm_scindia parting ways with @Incindia. I wish things could have been resolved collaboratively within the party.”
Though the BJP has not officially commented on the issue, there is speculation that Scindia could be made part of the Union cabinet after the Rajya Sabha elections.