BHOPAL: Two days after senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia dropped his party’s name from his Twitter bio, creating a political controversy in Madhya Pradesh, a Scindia loyalist legislator on Wednesday claimed that his leader will not leave the Congress to join another party, but might form a new party.
Suresh Rathkheda, the first-time Congress MLA from the Pohri seat in Shivpuri district, when asked by journalists about speculation on Scindia’s political future, said “First, let me make it crystal clear that Maharaj (Scindia) is not leaving the Congress. But the day Maharaj wants, he can form a new party and tell how powerful he is in the entire state,” said Rathkheda. “The day Shrimant (Scindia) forms a new party, I’ll be the first person to follow him,” he added.
Trying to play down the first-time Congress MLA’s statements, state party spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said, “There is no need to react on statements by individual MLAs. Jyotiraditya Scindia is a senior Congress leader, who has time and again stated that he can’t dream of leaving Congress.”
The development gave ammo to the opposition BJP to fire fresh salvos at the ruling Congress. “It is now out in the open that Scindia loyalists are feeling neglected or humiliated despite their party being in power in MP. Everything isn’t alright when it comes to Scindia in the Congress,” said state BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal.