NEW DELHI/BHOPAL, Mar 10:
In a massive setback for the Congress, its prominent youth leader Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party and in a coordinated rebellion today 22 MLAs loyal to him resigned in Madhya Pradesh, pushing the 15-month-old Kamal Nath Government to the brink of collapse.
Scindia, 49, appeared set to join the BJP, a party which had his late grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia as one of the leading lights amid speculation he may get a Rajya Sabha ticket and be made a union minister.
BJP sources said Scindia, a former Union Minister and a 4-time Lok Sabha MP, is likely to be inducted into the party in the next day or two and certainly before March 13—the last day for filing of nominations for the three Rajya Sabha sets in MP.
A shell-shocked Congress, in a largely symbolic move of no consequence, expelled Scindia, the party general secretary and scion of the erstwhile Gwalior royal family, on charges of anti-party activities.
On Tuesday morning, as much of India was celebrating Holi, Scindia, once considered a rising star of the Congress, met senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah, following which he called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence.
There was no official word on what transpired at the meetings. However, BJP sources asserted that the decision of the party’s top two leaders to hold long deliberations with Scindia underlined the importance they attach to a politician considered close to Rahul Gandhi.
In the resignation letter dated March 9 to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Scindia said “it is now time for me to move on” as he was unable to serve the people of the country while remaining in the party. (PTI)
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