But his decision coming at this stage to switch over to BJP and accept Narendra Modi as his leader certainly puts a big question mark on his political acumen and political sensibilities. No doubt Scindia will succeed in installing his friend Shivraj Singh Chuhan as the chief minister and push Nath out of office, but he is not sure what awaits for him in future.

If in Congress he had to fight Kamal Nath, in BJP he will have to Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is the blue eyed boy of the BJP. One thing is absolutely clear his being the royal scion will not him in elbowing Chauhan. It would prove to be an arduous task for him to make space in his new home. Modi accepting him in the party does not mean that he is above all. He is one among the equals. It would be outrageous to construe that he would enjoy more clout in the organisation than Chouhan.

Before making a decision to quit the Congress he should have revisited the backdrop in which his father Madhavrao Scindia had to leave the BJP and savour for a congenial place in the Congress. Late Scindia might not have resigned the BJP if he was accorded the respect he deserved.

It is really intriguing how a leader like Scindia could ignore the cases of defeat of BJP in the states. Recently the BJP lost some municipal boards in Odisha and Gujarat. The defeat of BJP is the worst development that has happened with it. Significantly prime minister, the most charismatic leader had campaigned for the BJP candidates. But he too could not ensure the victory. It simply underlines that Modi has lost his Midas touch. Naturally Scindia accepting his leadership raises questions on his political acumen.

Royalty is certainly not a guarantee that the people of Madhya Pradesh would accept him as their leader. Political equations and reflections have changed over the years. He ought to have done some introspection that what the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi instantly accept his resignation from the party. She did not even for a moment tell Scindia to have a second thought about his decision to leave the party.

This stance of the Congress leadership ought to be understood in the correct political backdrop. The Congress leadership is aware of the consequences of losing a state like MP, which is a major Hindi speaking state. The leadership knew that if Scindia walks out of the party the government will fall. But even then it did not dither from accepting his resignation. Now it will also lose the government. Scindia must do some introspection for this aversion of Congress; what made the Congress to harden its stance?

Significantly Jyotiraditya was the member of the young brigade of the Congress and known for his proximity to Rahul Gandhi. On its part, the Congress expelled the party general secretary and scion of the erstwhile Gwalior royal family on charges of anti-party activities.

In the resignation letter dated March 9 to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Scindia said; “Having been a primary member of the Congress party for the last 18 years. It is now time for me to move on. I am tendering my resignation from the primary membership of the Congress and as you well know this is a path that has been drawing itself out over the last year”. It is interesting to watch that his letter does not make it clear that why he failed to or could not serve the people of the country? Can a politician serve the people only by holding a position in the government?

Scindia also said, “While my aim and purpose remains the same as it has always been from the very beginning, to serve the people of my state and my country, I believe I am unable to do this anymore within this party. To reflect and realise the aspirations of my people and workers I believe it is best that I now look ahead at a fresh start.”

According to the Congress general secretary K. C. Venugopal, “The Congress president has approved the expulsion of Jyotiraditya Scindia from the Indian National Congress with immediate effect for anti-party activities.”

Legislators of MP assembly who have been ardent supporters of Scindia have made their intentions clear to leave the party by abstaining from the meeting of the CLP. There is no doubt that with Scindia quitting the party, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh will collapse as the former Guna MP has the support of at least 17 legislators who had gone incommunicado on Monday, with most of them camping in Bengaluru.

The Congress legislators rebelled against the party leadership only after Kamal Nath started cracking whip on mafias. Recently Kamal Nath had observed at a seminar that the consumption of milk has been substantially more than the actual production. Obviously he was pointing to existence of a major scam. This stand and action of Nath government had created huge uneasiness in the BJP. A senior leader said “We (the state government) are exposing Vyapam scam, e-tendering scam, Madhyam scam… In the honey-trap case, BJP men were found to be involved. This will be exposed”.

The BJP leadership though claims of forming its government after this development, the way the state BJP leadership handling the situation does not enthuse the rank and file. With the 20 Congress legislators loyal to Scindia quitting the party, it is claimed that Congress government has absolutely lost the majority. But despite this claim the BJP is trying desperately to keep together its own flock. If at all the Congress has lost the number game, there was no need for the BJP to counts its chicken. However it has been dispatching its legislators to safer places. It obviously implied that everything is not well with BJP.

A senior leader said that as a precautionary move, Madhya Pradesh BJP has decided to shift its MLAs to an unnamed location. In fact today the MLAs were scuttled in the five buses that were seen parked outside the BJP party office. Theses buses were parked in Bhopal since late evening. What is really irony is that the BJP legislators were not aware where they were being transported.
(IPA Service)