Scindia joins BJP, says Cong denying reality

TNN Bureau. Updated: 3/12/2020 9:46:56 AM Front Page

NEW DELHI: A day after quitting the Congress, Jyotiraditya Scindia crossed over to the BJP on Wednesday, leaving the Madhya Pradesh government tottering precariously and both parties scrambling to send their legislators far away from the state capital -- and from the machinations of each other.
Scindia joined the BJP in the presence of its president JP Nadda and slammed his former party for "denying reality" and "not acknowledging" new thoughts and new leadership.
Scindia, who was also named as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh by the BJP, hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "competence and complete dedication" to serving India and asserted that the country's future is fully secure in his hands. He vented his anguish with the national leadership of the Congress, where he started his electoral career in 2002 and occupied key positions, and also the party-run Madhya Pradesh government, saying the dream when it was formed in 2018 now lay "shattered" with farmers and youths living in distress and corruption rampant.
While Madhya Pradesh's ruling Congress, pushed to the brink of collapse after the resignation of 22 legislators close to Scindia, herded about 90 of its legislators to resorts near Jaipur, the state's opposition BJP sent its MLAs to a luxury hotel in Gurgaon.
And 19 of those who resigned and whose letters were taken to the speaker by the BJP are secluded in a hotel in Bengaluru.
As the number crunching intensified and resort politics played out in 'friendly states' - Rajasthan is ruled by the Congress and Haryana and Karnataka by the BJP - Scindia formally joined the BJP in the presence of party president J P Nadda.
Scindia, 49, the proverbial centre of the political storm in Madhya Pradesh, belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior and has family links with both the Congress and the BJP.
While his father Madhavrao Scindia was in the Congress, his grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia was one of the founder members of the BJP and his aunts Yashodhara Raje Scindia and Vasundhara Raje Scindia are active members of the saffron party.
Calling Madhya Pradesh a piece of his heart ('dil ka bhag'), Scindia said at a press conference with Nadda by his side his dream for the state had been shattered in the last 18 months -- when the Congress won the assembly elections and Kamal Nath became chief minister.
Welcoming him into the BJP, Nadda said he was "joining his family".
"This is a joyous day for BJP and me personally. Today, I remember Rajmata Scindia... The entire family is with BJP," former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.
Amid expectations that he will be the BJP's nominee from the state for the Rajya Sabha, Scindia said he is "pained" and "distressed" at not being able to serve the people and described the Congress as a party living in denial.
The former Union minister and four-time Congress MP, known to be close to Rahul Gandhi, said the party is not what it used to be.
His resignation from the Congress along with MLAs "loyal" to him on Tuesday has put a big question mark over the future of the Kamal Nath-led government, which came to power with a wafer-thin majority in the 230-member assembly. The effective strength is now 228.
It also has the support of four Independents, two BSP legislators and one SP MLA, but some may now switch sides to the BJP.
If the resignations of the 22 MLAs are accepted, the strength of the assembly will fall to 206. The Congress, on its own, will then be left with 92 seats while the BJP has 107 seats with the magic number for a majority being 104.
The Congress expressed confidence it will win a trust vote in the assembly.
"We have 95 MLAs here (at the Bhopal airport). Independent MLAs and BSP and SP legislators are also supporting us," state minister Priyavrat Singh said in Bhopal before taking off for Jaipur.
"We will prove our majority. We will save the government," senior Congress leader from the state Digvijaya Singh told.
He said 13 of the 22 rebel MLAs in the state have given an assurance that "they are not leaving the Congress". They also said they don't want to quit the party and were led away only to create pressure on the leadership to nominate Scindia to the Rajya Sabha,
"We did not anticipate that Scindia will quit the Congress... that was a mistake," Singh said.
Scindia, Singh said, could have been a Congress nominee to the Rajya Sabha but "only Modi-Shah" can give a Cabinet post to the "over-ambitious" leader.
The senior leader also claimed Scindia was roped in by the BJP after Chouhan failed to topple the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.
He added that Scindia was offered the post of deputy chief minister but wanted his nominee. However, Kamal Nath refused to accept a "chela", he said.
Nakul Nath, Congress MP and Kamal Nath's son, also exuded confidence the government would survive.
"They (the MLAs) were misled and taken to Bengaluru," Nakul Nath said outside Parliament, describing Scindia's exit from the party as a "dent".
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who was at the airport in Jaipur to receive his party's MLAs, accused the BJP of "shamelessly" indulging in horse-trading on the basis of money power.
"Horse-trading is being done shamelessly and MLAs are being threatened there (Madhya Pradesh)... we all are together," Gehlot alleged.
He said it was all being done on the basis of money power.
According to Gehlot, people would not forgive Scindia. "Congress party gave him so much but he showed opportunism."
Congress MLAs from the central Indian state were also certain the government would prove its majority.
"We are going to Jaipur with our MLAs. We will stay there together," state minister Sajjan Singh Verma, considered a close confidant of Kamal Nath, told reporters.
Attacking the BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the prime minister Narendra Modi of "destabilising" the elected Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel also gave a vote of confidence to his Madhya Pradesh counterpart, saying the government will prove in the House that it is safe.
"There have been many such instances... Those who left the party after raising a hue and cry later returned to the fold silently," he said.
Hitting out at Scindia, NCP leader Sharad Pawar said he wanted "quick rehabilitation" after the Lok Sabha poll defeat and commended the Congress for its "good and capable leadership".



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