NEW DELHI: Jyotiraditya Scindia, who joined the BJP on Wednesday, criticised the Congress saying that the party is not the same as it used to be and is far removed from reality.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters after being inducted into the party by its president JP Nadda, Scindia hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and said the country's future is secure in his hands.
Talking about his decades-old association with the Congress, Scindia said he was hurt and distressed as he was not being able to serve the people in that party. He said the dream which he along with his former colleagues saw for Madhya Pradesh has been shattered in 18 months.
"Transfer industry is flourishing in Madhya Pradesh, where we had a dream after coming to power. Eighteen months on, that dream lies shattered, whether it was about waiving farmers' loans or compensating farmers for the crop damaged due to natural reasons. Hundreds of farmers continue to face various court cases in Mandsaur," he said at a press conference where BJP chief J.P. Nadda was also present.
Scindia listed out two other key reasons for his leaving Congress. In all his elaborations, the reasons for his anger with the Congress were clear, the common refrain being: the Congress is not what it used to be.
The other reason for being disillusioned with Congress was that the party does not encourage new leadership, a situation that he compared with inertia. Saying that the party does not even accept the problem, he targeted the party's old guard, making it obvious that he meant Digvijaya Singh and Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
Joining the BJP was the "able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi". "India's safety and security is safe in Modi-ji's leadership," he said while explaining the third reason.
"I would like to thank BJP chief Nadda, Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for inviting me into the BJP family," he said, adding that they had given him a platform to serve the people.
Earlier, Nadda expressed happiness at the return of the grandson of Vijaya Raje Scindia. "I recall her role in spreading the ideology of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and later the BJP. For us, she was a visionary and an ideal," Nadda said.