Two Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalists return to Congress, say they 'felt suffocated in the BJP'

Jyotiraditya Scindia’s long silence after he switched from the Congress to the BJP three months ago has fuelled speculation that he is upset over neglect in the party which took his help to topple the 15-month old Kamal Nath government.

One of Scindia’s staunch supporters and former Sewa Dal state president Satyndra Yadav on Friday claimed that Maharaj is feeling suffocated in the BJP and will soon be back in the Congress. Yadav, who had joined the BJP with Scindia, announced his return to the Congress at the state PCC headquarters in Bhopal.

Significantly, former minister Balendu Shukla also echoed the same feeling while announcing his return to the Congress in Gwalior. Balendu was late Madhavrao Scindia’s close friend but could not get along with Jyotiraditya who inherited his father’s political legacy after the latter’s tragic death in a plane crash in 2001. Neglected by junior Scindia, Balendu had eventually joined the BJP in 2009.

Talking to reporters in Gwalior, Balendu Shukla said it is a myth that Jyotiraditya holds sway in Gwalior-Chambal region. “ His defeat in the Lok Sabha election in Guna seat by over one lakh votes was a glaring proof of that.”

The return of Balendu Shukla, a powerful Brahmin leader in the Gwalior region, is being considered a significant victory for the Congress. Out of the 24 assembly seats, where by elections are due, 16 are in the Gwalior-Chambal region.

Congress sources said many other Scindia loyalists, who joined the BJP, are sending feelers to return to the Congress as they complain that they are finding themselves misfit in the saffron culture.

Jyotiraditya Scindia has kept intriguing silence even as chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been deferring overdue cabinet expansion for over a month. Speculations are rife that the BJP is not willing to honour the commitment in toto that it had made to the turncoat leader for helping the party topple the Kamal Nath government. While Scindia reportedly wants to see ten of his loyalists in the Shivraj Singh ministry, the chief minister is not willing to adjust more than the six former MLAs who were ministers in the Kamal Nath government.