Scindia’s discontent with Congress ‘was growing for some time’

Though the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia was expected, Congressmen were hoping that the high command would somehow placate Scindia, a known confidante of Rahul Gandhi.

“He was sulking for some time. In fact, he was offered a Rajya Sabha seat. But he had other plans. He says Rahul Gandhi did not give him time. We do not know the facts. What is clear is that there should be a mechanism to address problems and organisational issues that arise from States. Sonia Gandhi should constitute a good team of people to assist her,” a senior Congress leader said.

Congress leaders indicate that Scindia started showing apathy to party’s affairs even before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. There have been reports of him having been in touch with the BJP for the last five months although some of his supporters believed that his disenchantment with the Congress would lead to him form a separate party as his late father Madhavrao Scindia once did.

BJP spokesperson Zafar Islam was dispatched to receive and bring Scindia to the party headquarters this morning, leading to speculation that Islam, a former banker, was instrumental in engineering Scindia’s shift. However, the strategy seems to have been carefully plotted by the BJP top leadership along with former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and others.

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