<p>Congress is in a denial mode and not open to new ideas, former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, once a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, said after joining the BJP on Wednesday, a party he strongly criticized till a fortnight back.</p>.<p>Within two hours of his formally joining the BJP, he was named the saffron party’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh, which is widely tipped to be a precursor to his appointment as Union Minister in Modi cabinet soon.</p>.<p>As Scindia, the Maharaja of royal Gwalior family broke his over 18-year-long association with Congress, a party which he had joined in December 2001 and joined the saffron party moving a full cycle, the BJP went to town welcoming the grandson of Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia, who was the bedrock of Jansangh’s expansion in central India.</p>.<p>Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan used a catchy one-liner in “Swagat Hai Maharaj, Saath Hai Shivraj (Welcome to the Maharaja, Shivraja is standing in solidarity) to welcome Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia’s grandson Scindia’s entry into the “BJP family” which was nurtured by her.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/madhya-pradesh-govt-crisis-live-bjp-nominates-jyotiraditya-scindia-for-rajya-sabha-polls-812237.html">To follow latest updates for Madhya Pradesh government crisis, click here</a></strong></p>.<p>Scindia, on the other hand, lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for getting the second massive Lok Sabha mandate in 2019 and expressed confidence that the country is safe in his hands.</p>.<p> A day after many Congress leaders slammed Scindia for quitting the party, accusing him of betraying the trust of the people and placing "personal ambition" over ideology, the former Union Minister told reporters at a packed press briefing at the national headquarters of BJP that the purpose of serving people cannot be achieved through Congress now as it is “no longer the same political party, which is used to be earlier”.</p>.<p>Scindia who resigned from Congress after being completely sidelined in the politics of Madhya Pradesh and amid confusion over the nomination for Rajya Sabha from the AICC said that he is “pained and sad” (Man vyathit hai, Man dukhi bhi hai) over being forced to take this decision as “there is an atmosphere of stagnation, there is a tendency to deny realities” in the Congress now.</p>.<p>He said there are issues like non-acceptance to new thinking, new ideas and recongnise new leadership in the Congress, a trend which has traveled down from national level to his home state Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress weaved a dream in 2018 when it had won the state polls after a gap of 15 years.</p>.<p> “It (the dream) is totally broken in the last 18 months. We had promised to waive the loan of farmers in 10 days but it could not happen even in 18 months,” he said.</p>.<p> BJP President J P Nadda in whose presence the Gwalior Royal, joined the party, assured him “BJP is a very different party in which every individual has a say and opportunity to make his contribution.”</p>.<p>BJP is eyeing to form a government in Madhya Pradesh with the help of 22 MLAs, most of whom are Scindia supporters, Besides it could also find it easier to win the second Rajya Sabha seat now. BJP is treating Scindia as a prize catch as the coming together of Scindia, Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath, the three warring leaders in 2018, saw the BJP losing power to Congress after a gap of 15 years. Scindia has a big influence on 24 assembly seats in Gwalior-Chambal region, where the BJP performed badly in the last assembly polls.</p>.<p>Congress was on the offensive. Rahul Gandhi, who ducked queries on Scindia in Parliament, tweeted an old picture of himself with Scindia and Kamal Nath with a quote of Leo Tolstoy "The two most powerful warriors are patience and time."</p>.<p>Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, "people will not forgive them. It would have bee better had these opportunist people left earlier."</p>.<p>Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel from Congress also took a jibe at Scindia saying those who quit the party after raising a hue and cry, eventually return silently.</p>.<p>Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah, however, said that no one has succeeded in the long run in BJP after being operated and predicted “neither will Scindia.</p>
<p>Congress is in a denial mode and not open to new ideas, former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, once a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, said after joining the BJP on Wednesday, a party he strongly criticized till a fortnight back.</p>.<p>Within two hours of his formally joining the BJP, he was named the saffron party’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh, which is widely tipped to be a precursor to his appointment as Union Minister in Modi cabinet soon.</p>.<p>As Scindia, the Maharaja of royal Gwalior family broke his over 18-year-long association with Congress, a party which he had joined in December 2001 and joined the saffron party moving a full cycle, the BJP went to town welcoming the grandson of Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia, who was the bedrock of Jansangh’s expansion in central India.</p>.<p>Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan used a catchy one-liner in “Swagat Hai Maharaj, Saath Hai Shivraj (Welcome to the Maharaja, Shivraja is standing in solidarity) to welcome Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia’s grandson Scindia’s entry into the “BJP family” which was nurtured by her.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/madhya-pradesh-govt-crisis-live-bjp-nominates-jyotiraditya-scindia-for-rajya-sabha-polls-812237.html">To follow latest updates for Madhya Pradesh government crisis, click here</a></strong></p>.<p>Scindia, on the other hand, lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for getting the second massive Lok Sabha mandate in 2019 and expressed confidence that the country is safe in his hands.</p>.<p> A day after many Congress leaders slammed Scindia for quitting the party, accusing him of betraying the trust of the people and placing "personal ambition" over ideology, the former Union Minister told reporters at a packed press briefing at the national headquarters of BJP that the purpose of serving people cannot be achieved through Congress now as it is “no longer the same political party, which is used to be earlier”.</p>.<p>Scindia who resigned from Congress after being completely sidelined in the politics of Madhya Pradesh and amid confusion over the nomination for Rajya Sabha from the AICC said that he is “pained and sad” (Man vyathit hai, Man dukhi bhi hai) over being forced to take this decision as “there is an atmosphere of stagnation, there is a tendency to deny realities” in the Congress now.</p>.<p>He said there are issues like non-acceptance to new thinking, new ideas and recongnise new leadership in the Congress, a trend which has traveled down from national level to his home state Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress weaved a dream in 2018 when it had won the state polls after a gap of 15 years.</p>.<p> “It (the dream) is totally broken in the last 18 months. We had promised to waive the loan of farmers in 10 days but it could not happen even in 18 months,” he said.</p>.<p> BJP President J P Nadda in whose presence the Gwalior Royal, joined the party, assured him “BJP is a very different party in which every individual has a say and opportunity to make his contribution.”</p>.<p>BJP is eyeing to form a government in Madhya Pradesh with the help of 22 MLAs, most of whom are Scindia supporters, Besides it could also find it easier to win the second Rajya Sabha seat now. BJP is treating Scindia as a prize catch as the coming together of Scindia, Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath, the three warring leaders in 2018, saw the BJP losing power to Congress after a gap of 15 years. Scindia has a big influence on 24 assembly seats in Gwalior-Chambal region, where the BJP performed badly in the last assembly polls.</p>.<p>Congress was on the offensive. Rahul Gandhi, who ducked queries on Scindia in Parliament, tweeted an old picture of himself with Scindia and Kamal Nath with a quote of Leo Tolstoy "The two most powerful warriors are patience and time."</p>.<p>Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, "people will not forgive them. It would have bee better had these opportunist people left earlier."</p>.<p>Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel from Congress also took a jibe at Scindia saying those who quit the party after raising a hue and cry, eventually return silently.</p>.<p>Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah, however, said that no one has succeeded in the long run in BJP after being operated and predicted “neither will Scindia.</p>
