If Jyotiraditya Scindhia had been named as party’s campaign chief earlier

NEW DELHI: Among the many ifs that would perhaps make up the narrative of the Congress’ crushing defeat in MP relate to the naming of Union power minister Jyotiraditya Scindhia as the party’s campaign chief.

Should it have been done earlier, and to what effect? The Harvard Business School graduate is no stranger to landing in strange political waters. His entry into politics in 2001, after a plane crash killed his father, Madhavrao Scindhia, was one such event.

Scindhia had barely managed a little over a year in Parliament from Guna, before polls were declared, and this time he was in the treasury benches staring down cousin Dushyant Singh and aunt Yashodhara Raje.

He was made junior minister in a reshuffle and given independent charge of the power ministry. An avid golfer, Scindia can complain that he didn’t quite manage to get his “swing” right in the run-up to the MP polls. The Congress was hurt by too many senior leaders and faulty ticket distribution.