Jyotiraditya Scindia hopeful of berth in Modi cabinet

BJP insiders, however, say Scindia might appear to have pleased the RSS leadership, but he is yet to win over PM Modi

Dynamics in Madhya Pradesh BJP politics are likely to change as speculations are rife that Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia is going to be inducted in the Modi cabinet. A hopeful Scindia has stepped up efforts to impress upon the BJP high command his willingness to work in tandem with the state leadership. He has also given signs of aligning himself with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Scindia’s acclimatisation in the RSS culture appears to have progressed well, though Madhya Pradesh BJP leadership remains wary of his ambitions.

Indications of the RSS’s growing affinity for the main toppler of the Kamal Nath government in March last year are evident in the state BJP working committee that was announced by the state president Vishnu Datt Sharma on June 8. The 403-member panel has not only accommodated a fairly good number of Scindia supporters, but has also honoured him as a permanent invitee in the auguste company of party veterans, including CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

Sharma was reportedly not willing to oblige the scion of the erstwhile Gwalior state so generously, but yielded under pressure from Nagpur. RSS general secretary Dattatrey Hosbale had asked BJP president JP Nadda to ensure that Scindia’s wish-list is honourably taken care of. This message was duly communicated to Sharma, himself a direct RSS appointee.

Scindia’s two-day Bhopal visit followed hectic closed-door meetings among state’s top BJP leaders, including general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Patel, former vice-president Prabhat Jha and number two in the Shivraj Singh cabinet Narottam Mishra. They also had secret parleys with state BJP leaders. Except Narendra Tomar, all the other top leaders are known Shivraj Singh Chouhan detractors.

Vijayvargiya is without work there days after the West Bengal elections. The BJP general secretary might not be fancying the chief minister’s post for himself after the West Bengal fiasco, but he is reported to be keen to see Shivraj being replaced by Narottam Mishra.

Number two in the cabinet, Mishra had played a key role under his mentor and Union home minister Amit Shah’s guidance in toppling the Kamal Nath government. He was in the forefront in most of the dealings with 22 MLAs who broke away from the Congress following Scindia.

All these leaders — Vijayvargiya, Mishra, Patel and Jha — had meetings among themselves as well as state BJP leaders in first week of this month in Bhopal and Delhi, triggering speculations about their rallying together to oust Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Scindia holds the key to the Shivraj Singh’s continuance. And, in turn, the chief minister is also seem inclined to see Scindia in the Union Cabinet.

A week later, Scindia went to the Gwalior home of former state minister Jaibhan Singh Pavaiya, the bitterest critic of the royal family. His gesture is being seen as an attempt to win over detractors in the BJP.

BJP insiders, however, say Jyotiraditya Scindia might appear to have pleased the RSS leadership but he is yet to win over the Prime Minister to fulfil his dream of becoming a Union minister, a reward that was part of the deal he had struck while pledging support to the party.