Ahead of the byelections to 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh, Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, who quit the Congress and joined the BJP in March, says the new entrants to the BJP and its senior leaders are working unitedly to ensure the party’s victory. He says the party has chalked out constituency-focused blueprints for the contest.
In the 2018 Assembly election, you got a resounding majority, especially in the Gwalior-Chambal region. So, what has changed since that election?
Historically, the Congress has never crossed the figure of 18 seats [of the total 34] in the region since Independence. And for the first time in 2018, owing to multiple reasons, we crossed 18 and the tally went up to 26. One seat went to the BSP and seven to the BJP. It was a one-way street for the Congress. That in a huge way resulted in the formation of the Congress government. The party’s victory can largely be attributed to trust reposed in the Congress by the people of Gwalior-Chambal.
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Having said that, lawmakers were trampled upon, disrespected and their wishes and aspirations with regard to developmental projects were completely cast aside, combined with a corrupt government of Kamal Nath. Not only me, but two former Ministers of the Congress government, still with the party, said the same thing whilst they were Cabinet Ministers. Never before have Cabinet Ministers of a government written and spoken against the functioning of their government in such an open manner.
Nevertheless, nothing changed. It’s rather sad and devastating that in a government formed after 15 years, Mr. Nath lost the trust of 22 legislators, of which 16 were MLAs and six Ministers. This is unprecedented in the political discourse of our country. Four legislators resigned later. So, 26 legislators resigning from a political party which possesses only 114 MLAs is a staggering 28 per cent. What kind of government was Mr. Nath running, which could not even hold together its own MLAs let aside cater to the needs of the party’s workers and the public? These facts speak for themselves.
What are the focus areas of your election strategy this time?
We’ve been in power for six months in Madhya Pradesh and had to battle COVID-19. But we’ve had a clear blueprint in place. First, State-wide measures such as a supplement to the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi in the form of the CM Kisan Samman Nidhi which adds ₹4,000 to ₹6,000 a year to farmers and the delivery of ₹7,500 crores, which Mr. Nath had locked up in his treasury, into farmers’ accounts. Then, resumption of schemes that were scrapped by Mr. Nath such as Ladli Lakshmi and Kanyadan Yojana, and the Sambal scheme. We’ve had a constituency-focused plan in place too wherein developmental requirements not fulfilled by the Congress government have been identified. Every constituency has got between ₹200-300 crore and ₹2,000 crore in development projects. We are going to the people with a blueprint for the State.
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Let’s not forget, of the 28 seats up for election, 27 belonged to the Congress. The BJP has everything to gain, while the Congress has everything to lose.
For the purpose of the election, how did you and your supporters reconcile with experienced BJP leaders?
We’ve officially had over 1.5 lakh people leave the Congress and join the BJP. Many of them were office-bearers, which shows the level of disenchantment within the Congress towards the current dispensation. We have worked on our relationship with the BJP over the last three-and-a-half months making sure there is complete unity. And in many constituencies you’ll see current and past legislators and office-bearers on one platform working unitedly to ensure the party’s victory. So, the union has been complete, and without any issue.
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Are you also eyeing the Chief Minister’s post after the byelection?
In my family, we are not after a nameplate. Our cause is not politics but one of public service. And therefore, our goal is development and progress of the region and a connection with the people of the State. For me, it’s not Mr. Nath’s story of kissa kursi ka [the chief minister’s chair] but about finding a place in people’s hearts.
