Chouhan barb on Scindias riles Cabinet colleague Yashodhara

CHIEF MINISTER Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s remarks on the Scindias “siding with the British” has upset his ministerial colleague Yashodhara Raje Scindia.

Addressing a rally in Bhind district two days ago, Chouhan said that during the 1857 uprising “the Ater region had stood with Maharani Laxmibai and not with the British. I know that the Scindias sided with the British and persecuted the people.’’

Chouhan apparently wanted to target Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia, in whose area of influence the Ater constituency falls. While Jyotiraditya, the MP from Guna, has not reacted to Chouhan’s remark, his aunt Yashodhara has expressed her disapproval.

“I have to stand up for my mother (Rajmata) who has done so much for the party. She worked relentlessly, even when she was unwell, to resurrect the BJP by spending her money. She was respected by one and all. The statement attributed to the CM amounts to an insult,” Yashodhara told The Indian Express.

Rajmata Scindia was a BJP stalwart. Her daughter Yashodhara is a Cabinet minister in Madhya Pradesh while another daughter Vasundhara Raje is Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

“Probably he (Chouhan) did not say what has been attributed to him. I was not there,” Yashodhara, the Sports and Youth Welfare Minister, said. When asked if she had taken up the matter with the party, she refused to comment.

Chouhan has neither retracted nor clarified his statement.

The Congress, meanwhile, criticised the CM for his statement, saying he had stooped very low. Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh called it “an insult to the Rajmata whose hard work took the BJP to where it is today”.

The Maratha Samaj in Gwalior called for a protest against Chouhan’s statement on Sunday.

Chouhan, Yashodhara