Congress leaders lash out at Jyotiraditya Scindia, his aunt says it's 'ghar wapsi'

Congress leaders on Tuesday reacted bitterly to the news of former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia's resignation from the party, while his aunt and BJP leader Yashodhara Raje Scindia called it a "ghar wapsi".

Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary alleged Scindia might have been lured by the offer of ministership by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Yes it will indeed be a loss to our party and I do not think our government in Madhya Pradesh will survive. This is the present-day politics of BJP, which always tries to topple and destabilise Opposition governments," Chaudhury told ANI.


Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said Scindia betrayed trust of the people, as well as the ideolgy for which he worked till now.

"People like Jyotiraditya Scindia prove they cannot thrive without power, sooner they leave the better," Gehlot said.

Digvijaya alleges BJP hand

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh alleged the BJP masterminded the operation by hiring three planes to fly out Congress MLAs loyal to Scindia.

"This is part of a conspiracy to reverse the mandate of people of Madhya Pradesh because Kamal Nath has acted against mafias," Singh told reporters in Bhopal.

Aunt and BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, welcomed her nephew's decision to resign from the Congress, saying it is in the "interest of the nation".

"Rajmata's blood took the decision in the national interest, the new country will be created, now every distance has ended," she tweeted. Jyotiraditya's grandmother and Yashodhara Raje's mother Vijayaraje Scindia, popularly known as 'Rajmata', was a BJP stalwart.

Scindia met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the morning in the company of Home Minister Amit Shah and shortly afterward ended his 18 years of association with the Congress. The party on its part expelled its general secreatary and scion of the Gwalior royal family.

Scindia has signalled he is joining the BJP but is yet to make the announcement; Yashodhara Scindia while talking to the Times of India called his move "ghar wapsi".

The crisis in Madhya Pradesh also sparked other predicable statements from Congress party. Karnataka unit chief Dinesh Gundu Rao said it was time for Rahul Gandhi to lead the party from the front and make drastic changes at the top.