Shah oversaw moves to bring Scindia on board

NEW DELHI: The swift and well guarded moves that preceded Jyotiraditya Scindia’s formal entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party were overseen by former party president and Union home minister Amit Shah.

It was Shah who met Scindia on Tuesday and later accompanied him to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence to clear the decks for his entry into the BJP. The two leaders are understood to have been in touch for several weeks now.

According to one state functionary, the royal family of Baroda also played a role in initiating dialogue between Shah and Scindia. Another functionary who played a key role in negotiation was BJP’s national spokesperson

Syed Zafar Islam. According to a second person familiar with the development, Islam who was acquainted with Scindia from their investment banking days had been in touch with the leader over the past few months, which paved the way for a meeting between Scindia and Shah.

On Wednesday, it was Islam who went to Scindia’s residence and accompanied him to the BJP headquarters for the joining in. A third BJP functionary said Scindia’s resignation will not only help the BJP reclaim Madhya Pradesh but also pave way for the eventual emergence of a new leadership in the state.

“He is a young, dynamic leader, who has the experience of being in charge at the state as well at centre. There are senior leaders such as Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Narendra Tomar, but the party has to have younger leaders to take it further,” said the functionary quoted above.

The first functionary quoted above said Scindia’s joining will help the BJP strengthen its position in the Gwalior-Chambal region of the state, considered a Scindia stronghold. In the 230member Madhya Pradesh assembly 34 seats are in this region. The region is also considered a pocket borough of the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior. The combinathem tion of Scindia’s appeal, and BJP’s organisational muscle in the region, is expected to make it an even more formidable bastion.

The BJP has also redoubled its efforts in the region which is the hot bed of caste politics and it was here the protests against dilution of the SC/ST prevention of atrocities Act was seen the most. The BJP has been wooing the SC and ST communities in the region, while retaining its upper-caste base. For now, Scindia is expected to join the cabinet at the Centre, which will provide a boost to the talent in the government, given his administrative experience, energy and ability to articulate key policy issues.

Even as the there was speculation that Scindia would leave the Congress party, a host of state leaders were unsure whether he would join the BJP formally or float his own party. “The negotiations were limited to Shah and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan,” said the third functionary. Following a meeting with Prime Minister along with Shah, Scindia announced his resignation from the Congress and later joined the BJP. There was no word on what transpired at the meetings Scindia held with Shah and Modi.

“The BJP had been watching the developments unfold in the state, but did not make any move to topple the Kamal Nath government. Only when it became clear that intra-party disagreements which were evident in the form of open rebellion by MLAs made it untenable for the Congress government to continue, did the BJP take proactive steps,” said another state functionary aware of the details.

IT WAS SHAH WHO MET SCINDIA ON TUESDAY AND LATER ACCOMPANIED HIM TO PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI’S RESIDENCE TO CLEAR THE DECKS FOR HIS ENTRY