oppn parties Scindia In BJP, Congress Has No Answers

News Snippets

  • India will fast-track deployment of 52 defence surveillance satellites
  • In a first, Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai helps patients draw up living will
  • Calcutta HC says that an arrest warrant cannot be issued against an accused who is on anticipatory bail, and if that person is arrested, he or she must be released as per the conditions of the anticipatory bail
  • Monsoon covers entire India 9 days ahead of schedule
  • Maharashtra government scraps order making Hindi the 3rd language in state schools after protests by civil society and opposition
  • A government report says that 64.3% of the population is now under the social security net, up from only 22% in 2016
  • The finance ministry has asked PSB to look at ways to monetise their investment in subsidiaries, by listing them on the stock exchanges
  • After auditor flags overlimit expenses, Karnataka Bank MD & CEO S Hari Hara Sarma and ED Sekhar Rao resign
  • Rosneft likely to sell its stake in Nayara Energy to RIL
  • Ola junks commission-based income model, opts for a daily flat fee from drivers with the hope of attracting more drivers to its platform
  • Torrent Pharma will acquire a controlling stake in JB Chem for Rs 18000cr by buying 46.4% from US fund KKR and another 26% from the public by making an open offer
  • Speculation persists over Jasprit Bumrah making the playing 11 in the second Test against England starting July 2
  • FIH Pro hockey: Indian women slump to their 8th successive loss as they lose to China 2-3
  • US Open BWF Super 300 badminaton: Ayush Shetty wins his first BWF world title by beating Canadian Brian Young 21-18,21-13 but Tanvi Sharma lost in the finals to Beiwwwan Zhang 11-21, 21-16, 10-21
  • R Praggananda wins Tashkent meet, become number 1 chess player in India with FIDE rating of 2799
The SIT formed to probe law college gang-rape in Kolkata has collected the hockey stick used to hit the victim and other rape evidence from the coolege campus /////// Rath Yatra stampede in Puri kills 3
oppn parties
Scindia In BJP, Congress Has No Answers

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-03-11 19:56:40

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP today. He was formally inducted in the party by the BJP president J P Nadda at the party’s headquarters in Delhi. It now means that the entire Scindia family is in the BJP fold. Scindia was immediately rewarded with a Rajya Sabha nomination from his home state Madhya Pradesh. He is likely to win from there since the equation has changed as 22 MLAs supporting him have resigned from the legislature and the Congress will not have the numbers to defeat him.

Scindia said the usual things any leader of his stature changing political colours is expected to say. He said that the Congress was not the same party and that he fully supports Prime Minister Modi and his vision that is taking the country forward. Meanwhile, reacting to his charge that Rahul Gandhi chose to ignore his requests for a meeting for the last few months, Gandhi today said that Scindia was the only leader who could walk into his house anytime without permission.

The BJP is likely to induct Scindia in the Union cabinet as a minister of state with independent charge. It is also likely to assess the situation closely in Madhya Pradesh and is likely to press for a no-confidence vote against the Kamal Nath government on the day the Budget session of the assembly starts on March 16. With the Congress numbers going down after the 22 resignations, the Kamal Nath government is certain to fall. Shivraj Singh Chouhan will then return as chief minister for a fourth term. But he will have to accommodate Scindia’s supporters, if not all then at least who were already ministers in the Congress ministry. That is likely to lead to a lot of heartburn in the state unit of the BJP.

As for the Congress, its state and Central leadership failed to gauge that support for Scindia ran deep in the party. They were perhaps fooled by the first rebellion when only 6 MLAs tried to defect and were brought back. But that was perhaps a diversionary tactic employed to keep the wily Kamal Nath under a sense of complacency. When the real crisis struck, Nath was left groping for a response. The high command was inactive as usual.

The Congress is destroying itself by not having a top leadership capable of crisis management. Scindia could have been retained had either Sonia or Rahul heard his grievances and redressed them. He is too senior a leader to be cold-shouldered in a manner that is grossly insulting. Perhaps, guided by Nath and Digvijay Singh, the high command thought Scindia was dispensable. There can be no other explanation for the manner in which the Congress handled him. Hence the party should not be surprised at how the script unfolded. There are other young leaders waiting to follow the path shown by Scindia. The Congress will have to keep its house in order instead of accusing the BJP of poaching.