Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared that there would be no 'Holi Milan' this festival owing to the coronavirus scare. But he willingly made time for one 'milan' that would change the political map of the country as saffron foot print is set to increase. Miffed at being ignored in his party for over a year, Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday quit the Congress and signalled his entry into the BJP by meeting Modi along with Home Minister Amit Shah.
The BJP is the biggest gainer in the Congress' internal power struggle. If everything goes according to the script, the geographical area under saffron control will increase. The BJP, though sure, is leaving nothing to chance. It has secured resignations of over 20 MLAs in Madhya Pradesh. The party still has fresh in mind the Maharashtra experience where they inducted Ajit Pawar as he had promised to bring several NCP MLAs with him. But the BJP lost him in a few days.
Chief Minister Kamal Nath is expected to try his best to save the government. The numbers are against him, despite the party claiming that they will try to prove majority in the house. In the latest political situation, Scindia, after his Rajya Sabha election, can get a role in the central politics, including a cabinet berth, while former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be back in the saddle in the state.
BJP is expected to wrest back control of Madhya Pradesh, the state it ruled for 15 years till December 2018. With Madhya Pradesh in its kitty, the BJP's shrinking footprint, especially in the Hindi heartland states, will be stemmed. For the BJP, the importance of Amit Shah as its key interlocutor and strategist was again visible as he took the former Gwalior royal to Lok Kalyan Marg to meet the PM. After Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh is the second state where the BJP is set to take control from the Congress, without fresh elections.
Scindia's desertion along with nearly two dozen Congress MLAs has come as good news for the saffron party as it was facing flak for economic slowdown, loss in Delhi election and communal riots in the national capital.
Scindia was expected to join the party on Holi, the day of his father's birth anniversary. But sources said he is expected to join the BJP along with his supporters in Bhopal, when he will file his nomination as a Rajya Sabha candidate. The Congress was quick to expel him from the party on Tuesday as all efforts to pacify him had failed.
Now the entire Scindia family is in the BJP. Jyotiradtiya's two aunts—Vasundhra Raje and Yashodhara Raje—are already party MLAs in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Jyotiraditya's father Madhavrao Scindia was also in the Jan Sangh, before he joined the Congress in 1979. His grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia was a founding member of the BJP.
BJP's central election committee met in Delhi on Tuesday evening where the names of the candidates for seats where party will put up candidates in several states were discussed. March 13 is the last day for filing of nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections. As Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J.P. Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh came to the party headquarters for the central election committee meeting, it was expected that Scindia would be be inducted into the BJP in presence of the senior leaders. However, as the meeting was held late in the evening, Scindia's induction was scheduled for a later time.
The party headquarters, which is normally shut on Holi to let the party staff celebrate the festival, was asked to keep it open during the day. The police had taken control of all roads leading to the headquarters due to Modi's arrival for the meeting. The security seemed extra cautious with the day being a festival, and due to recent riots which took place a few kilometers away. As Modi walked in amid tight security at party headquarters, he wished Holi to the waiting media persons, with a wave of hand.
Scindia's resignation—in his letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi he said he wanted to “look ahead at a fresh start as his interests and goals would not be served any more within this party”—has brought further despondency within the grand old party as it suffers from a leadership crisis. Scindia was known for his proximity to Rahul Gandhi. He, along with Priyanka Gandhi, was made in-charge of the party affairs in Uttar Pradesh. After he lost in Lok Sabha elections from his pocket borough Guna in Madhya Pradesh, Scindia had become further restless. He had been overlooked for CM's post in December 2018 after the Congress won the state elections.
The loss of another state is likely to hit the opposition morale in their attempt to counter BJP's aggression. Elections are due in Bihar later this year, and next year in West Bengal and Kerala.
