Scindia sacrificed his ideology for a political future, says Rahul Gandhi

NEWDELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday that former party colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia had bypassed his own ideological leanings and decided to go with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), because he feared for his political future.

Gandhi also recalled his long association with Scindia and said there was a difference between “what is in his heart and what he is saying”.

Scindia quit the Congress on Tuesday and a day later joined the BJP, which decided to field him for one of the Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh. Scindia said his decision was borne out of his pain at being unable to serve the people while being in the Congress. He also said the Congress is no longer the party it used to be.

“I know the ideology of Jyotiraditya Scindia ji, he was with me in college. I would keep talking to him, I know him well. Jyotiraditya Scindia feared for his political future and therefore kept his ideology in his pocket and went with the RSS,” Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament House complex.

“But the reality is that neither will he get respect there, nor will the truth and emotion in his heart be satisfied. He will come to realise it,” Gandhi said, adding that he shared an old friendship with Scindia.

Asked about Scindia’s move to the BJP, Gandhi said: “This is a clear-cut fight of ideologies. On one side is the Congress party’s ideology and on the other hand is the RSS-BJP ideology.”

On Wednesday, soon after Scindia snapped his 18-year-old association with the Congress and joined the BJP, Gandhi said: “He was one guy in the Congress who could walk into my house anytime...”

This is a clear-cut fight of ideologies. On the one side is the Congress party’s ideology and on the other hand is the RSS-BJP ideology. RAHUL GANDHI, Congress leader