Jyotiraditya Scindia Joined BJP, But What Does He Stand To Gain?

Jyotiraditya Scindia has left Congress and joined hands with the BJP. But will his expectations come to fruition?

Breaking views with Sanjay Pugalia

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Jyotiraditya Scindia has parted ways with the Congress and joined hands with the BJP. But what does he stand to gain from this venture?

If he manages to become Madhya Pradesh’s Chief Minister, then it will be said that he successfully played the game. But, he has instead been named a Rajya Sabha candidate from MP and will most likely get a cabinet berth.

However, if Shivraj Singh Chouhan becomes the Chief Minister, then what will Jyotiraditya Scindia’s role be in MP politics?

The tussle in Congress was over the claim that Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath were not giving Scindia the space and respect in MP politics he thought he deserved – and when he turned to the Delhi leadership for help, he got a disappointing response.

This is the reason he decided to part ways from the Congress and go to the BJP – a party he often criticised.

But the Congress claims that Scindia was given eight promotions in 18 years and afforded a lot of respect.

Scindia’s actual chain of thought might have been that the Congress was no longer in opposition, there was no new role to play in MP, and Kamal Nath would remain the CM. In such a situation, Scindia certainly would have thought of looking for greener pastures, and landed on the BJP.

In a state like Madhya Pradesh, where there are senior leaders like Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Prabhat Jha, Narottam Mishra, and Narendra Sigh Tomar, will Jyotiraditya Scindia really be able to carve out an effective place in state politics with the BJP? This certainly looks challenging.

However, there is still a big question mark over whether the BJP will even give Scindia enough ground to advance as a leader.

History tells us that leaders who are poached by the BJP are first kept in the basement, and later given only a few opportunities – but one thing is constant, which is that their induction is always a grand affair.

Look at the example of Maneka Gandhi or Varun Gandhi – they both joined hands with the BJP, but one ended with ministership and the other with just an MP seat. Here’s another example: Jayant Sinha was first made MoS Finance then given a less challenging ministry. Even after his victory, he was given not given a ministry. His father Yashwant Sinha was made the finance minister during Vajpayee’s time but only after a very long and gruelling wait.

It is unlikely that Scindia’s expectations of the BJP will be fulfilled anytime soon as the BJP is flush with its own crop of leaders.

Leaving a party because you were not given better opportunities due to the young age is a valid frustration, but it is no reason for a party to change its course for the future.

The Congress’ problem is different: It is struggling to find a narrative and a counter-ideology. At the central leadership level, Congress’ structure and succession plan are being mishandled. The transition period has lasted too long and so it is natural for its leaders to become disillusioned.

There is also a lack of communication with the potential candidates who deserve to be accommodated in the Congress. But what does Jyotiraditya Scindia actually gain by joining hands with the BJP?

The BJP is known to take help from individuals to carry out organisational work, but it is not in BJP’s nature to make organisational changes to accommodate an individual’s aspiration – I am sure Jyotiraditya Scindia knows this.

This page was originally published on Quint Hindi