Gwalior Royal Jyotiraditya Scindia Joins BJP; Says 'India Safe In PM Modi's Hands'

Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, a day after quitting the Congress that he served for 18 years.

The disgruntled leader joined the saffron party in New Delhi in the presence of BJP National President J.P. Nadda.

Welcoming him into the party, Nadda said Scindia will be given bigger responsibilities in the party. He termed him a 'family member' and said that everyone in the BJP has a say in decision-making.

Scindia, who spoke for the first time since he resigned, said that his aim is to work for the welfare of the people of the country. "But that was not possible while I was in Congress," Scindia said.

He said new ideas are not welcomed in Congress. "There is a denial of reality in Congress, it has changed what the party used to be," Scindia said.

He said he was "hurt and distressed" as he was not able to serve the people in his previous party. 

He said India's future is totally secure in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hands. 

On Tuesday, Scindia had met former BJP President Amit Shah. The two later met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence.

Following that meeting, Scindia released the letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi where he announced his exit. The resignation letter is dated March 9.

Meanwhile, amid the fears of poaching and further defections, Congress is flying all the 95 MLAs to Jaipur. With the resignation of 22 MLAs in a single day, Congress in Madhya Pradesh has been reduced to a minority government.

Despite the fewer numbers in the House, the ruling party MLAs expressed confidence that the Kamal Nath-led state government will be able to prove its majority.

Also Read: Jyotiraditya Scindia's Defection May Inspire Revolts In Other State Congress Units

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh claimed that 13 out of 22 rebel MLAs in Madhya Pradesh have assured "they are not leaving Congress". 

"Congress government in MP is confident of winning a floor test." said Digvijay Singh, adding "we are not keeping quiet, we are not sleeping". 

The Congress has also claimed that it enjoys the support of Independent MLAs.

"The government will survive. All independent MLAs are with us, they are all my friends. We will bring back the MLAs who are in Bengaluru," said Independent MLA Surendra Singh.

Sources say the discussion between Scindia and the BJP had been going on for some months now. While Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar handled the negotiations from the BJP's side, a confidante of Scindia told Outlook that a senior member of Gujarat's erstwhile Baroda royal family too was roped in to convince the Congress leader to defect. Scindia's wife, Priyadarshini Raje, is a Baroda royal and her family is learnt to have close ties with the BJP and Modi. In 2014, when Modi had contested his first Lok Sabha poll from Baroda (he had also contested simultaneously from Varanasi, the seat he later retained), the Rajmata of Baroda's Gaekwad dynasty was among the four proposers of Modi's candidature.

Also Read: Scindia Has Betrayed People's Trust, Ideology: Ashok Gehlot

Outlook had reported earlier that Scindia was seriously weighing his options on severing ties with the Grand Old Party ever since he lost out to Kamal Nath in the race for becoming MP chief minister. In May last year, when Scindia lost the Lok Sabha poll from his Guna constituency, his patience with the Congress began running thin. While many of Scindia's loyalists in MP had urged him to launch a regional party, the former Union minister felt joining the BJP served his political interests best.

Scindia's decision to quit the Congress coincided with the 75th birth anniversary of his father, the late Madhavrao Scindia. Madhavrao Scindia was a Congress stalwart who served as Union minister under different Congress regimes and was elected to the Lok Sabha for nine terms, without ever losing an election. In 1980, Madhavrao's defection to the Congress from the Jana Sangh - the BJP's earlier avatar co-founded by Vijayaraje Scindia - had helped the Congress consolidate it's position further in the Gwalior-Chambal region and came as a major embarrassment to the Jana Sangh and Vijayaraje Scindia, the then Rajmata of Gwalior.

Also Read: A Look At Possible Scenarios As Congress Loses Majority In Madhya Pradesh

Sources say Scindia has been assured of a Rajya Sabha nomination from MP and induction into the Modi cabinet with an important portfolio as a reward for his defection from the Congress. In MP, his loyalist legislators - including six cabinet ministers - who had flown to Bangalore on Monday will, however, need to resign from their Vidhan Sabha seat before they can switch to the BJP to avoid being slapped with the anti-defection law. Whether the BJP rewards these defectors in the near future will depend on their own success in getting re-elected to the MP Assembly.

The development comes days after eight legislators supporting the Nath regime had gone missing. Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh had alleged that the BJP was trying to topple the Congress government in the state and named former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, BJP leaders Narottam Mishra, Bhupendra Singh, Vishwas Sarang and Sanjay Pathak as architects of the crisis.

However, six of the legislators returned to Bhopal over the weekend and asserted full support for the Congress government. Two Congress legislators - Hardeep Dang and Raghuraj Kansana - are still missing and there is speculation that they might join ranks with the Scindia loyalists and quit to bring down the Nath government.

The ongoing crisis, Congress sources say, has been triggered by the ensuing Rajya Sabha polls in which three MPs are to be elected from the state. The Congress and the BJP, with 114 and 107 legislators each, can ensure the successful election of one candidate each. However, the third seat may go to either party because of their near-identical legislative strength and efforts to rest the election.

Both Scindia and Digvijaya are eyeing a Rajya Sabha seat from their home state. Additionally, Scindia had also been lobbying to be named the state Congress president with immediate effect - a position currently held by Nath. Digvijaya and his loyalists, who outnumber Scindia's in MP, did not want the MP Congress chiefs post to go to the Gwalior royal. Sources say Scindia had communicated to the Congress high command that his patience with the party is fast running out and his loyalty to the party which his father, the late Madhavrao Scindia, had also served dedicatedly should not be taken for granted.

For the Congress, Scindia's defection could trigger a larger crisis too as it may encourage his contemporary from Rajasthan - deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot - to follow suit. Pilot's unease within the party ever since he was overlooked for the chief minister's post in December 2018 in favour of old warhorse Ashok Gehlot is common knowledge. Though Pilot continues to be Gehlot's deputy and also Rajasthan Congress chief, he wants a greater say in party matters and a position commensurate with that. Speculations about Pilot toying with the idea of launching a regional party in Rajasthan have been made several times over the past year. Revolts from leaders like Milind Deora in Maharashtra and Jitin Prasada in UP cannot be ruled out either.

(With PTI Inputs)