Scindia, BJP MLA cross swords over party's Vijaypur bypoll loss in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: The BJP's loss in the November 13 Vijaypur bypoll in Madhya Pradesh was at the centre of a war of words after Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said he would have campaigned had he been called to do so.

BJP general secretary and MLA Bhagwandas Sabnani, in response, said Scindia was invited to campaign but the latter declined citing a busy schedule.

The BJP's Ramniwas Rawat lost to the Congress' Mukesh Malhotra by a margin of 7,364 votes in the Vijaypur assembly bypoll, results of which were declared on November 23.

It was particularly embarrassing for the ruling party as Rawat had quit as Congress MLA and joined the BJP. He was made forest minister in the Mohan Yadav government but failed to get re-elected.

Vijaypur is part of the state's Gwalior-Chambal region, where the Scindias hold considerable sway. The Union minister is MP from Guna in the region.

"We need to contemplate on this. This is a matter of concern. But our vote share has gone up. If I was asked I would have definitely gone (for campaigning)," Scindia told reporters in Gwalior while answering a question on whether the bypoll loss was due to his absence from the campaign.

When asked about this statement, MLA Sabnani told reporters the party leadership had asked Scindia to campaign.

"The state president and other top leaders talked to him. Scindia was in the list of star campaigners. He was invited but he declined due to his busy schedule," Sabnani claimed.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders latched on to Scindia's statement to mock the ruling party.

Leader of Opposition in the assembly Umang Singhar pointed out that the BJP had given respect to Scindia (after he switched sides from the Congress in 2020) and had made him a minister.

Next time the BJP must invite Scindia by sending yellow rice (a traditional way of inviting esteemed guests), Singhar taunted.

Singhar, however, added that Scindia's campaigning would not have had any affect since Vijaypur has always been a Congress bastion.