It’s unlikely that Jyotiraditya will get something more from the BJP than what the Congress denied. Is he just a token?

At one level, nothing unexpected has really happened in the Congress. The young Turks, now not so young, are looking to give their political careers some individual purpose as the borrowed legacy of an institution called the Congress is fast ebbing away. Directionless without peer representation, and a leader who has quit the game a long time ago, they feel wasted and helpless with the old guard continuing their stubborn ways of what is right and wrong. Jyotiraditya Scindia’s resignation is just a summary of all that ails the Congress, where the young leaders want to keep the party’s nationalist ideology, passion and legacy alive but are dispirited for lack of recognition or being “too good” in outshining the Gandhi scions themselves. It is also but expected of the ruling BJP to claim the spoils of war, especially if that happens to be harvesting the peels of the shell the Congress has become. In this case, Scindia is the prize pick of the BJP, simply because he and his father before him had been part of the inner circle of the Gandhis and were the cushion around their leadership of the party. The visible impact of a Congress jolted by a trusted insider is far greater than any game of numbers. Frankly, the BJP really did not need Scindia as badly as the latter needed the party. His aunts, Vasundhara and Yashodhara, and grandmother Vijayraje Scindia, had delivered enough in their very influential capacities. So at another level, it is Scindia’s unchanged net worth that is unexpected. He doesn’t get much in the tradeoff, certainly nothing that makes him look like he is starting over. For ideological loyalty is not party loyalty and a man, who claims he has a hold on his former royal subjects, could have easily floated his own unit. But by switching over to the BJP, which he had sharply criticised over the Delhi riots fairly recently and changing his ideology after 18 long years, something that his father Madhavrao resisted for a lifetime, he surely looks like an opportunist. Besides, Scindia Jr is also encashing his family lineage to be of relevance to the BJP and is not casting away his dynastic mantle, something that the Gandhis are always accused of. Undoubtedly, he worked assiduously to shore up the Congress’ fortunes in Madhya Pradesh during the Assembly elections in 2018 and has reportedly been miffed at not being gifted chief ministership. But one cannot ignore that for all his claimed sway over the Gwalior belt, he lost his home turf of Guna in the Lok Sabha elections. Besides, loyalist party MLAs, who quit the party with him, aren’t keen on joining the BJP in a leap of faith. They would have if he had floated an independent State outfit perhaps, something that other young but dejected leaders in the Congress, like Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan, are rumoured to be contemplating. A fresh start gets endorsement more easily than jaded defection plots.

The BJP, which has an ideological resonance across Madhya Pradesh, a State which continues to be the crucible of Hindutva and where its long-range grassroots warrior Shivraj Singh Chouhan scripted a success story for 13 long years, is not humouring Scindia’s royal lineage either. All he gets is a Rajya Sabha membership and a Union Ministry, something which makes his move look like personal aggrandisement than a crusade or revolt. The BJP has too many strongmen that it cannot afford to upset for want of a poster boy and won’t be risking its dynamics in a sure shot heartland bastion. The party may have lost the Assembly elections of 2018 but is within snapping distance of power with 107 legislators in the 230-member House. The Congress has 120 MLAs and assuming all its 21 MLAs are gone, will dip to 104, making government formation a skilled and institutionalised game of horse-trading. This wafer-thin anxiety was the reason that the Congress went on the backfoot in effecting a generational change in State leadership and brought in old warhorse Kamal Nath as the Chief Minister, who managed numbers and survival. This is also one of the reasons why the BJP, despite having the edge, has moved its MLAs to a hotel in faraway Gurugram while the Congress has parked its own in Jaipur. Scindia said the Congress is “living in denial” but probably, he is, too, in the process over-selling his chances. The bigger casualty is undoubtedly the Congress itself. No matter who wins what round, the fact is, it is dependent on the age-old structure of self-serving fiefdoms belonging to its hawks, who have passed on timely interests earned to the ruling first family and claimed to have ownership on what works for the party. Scindia’s trigger could very well encourage its disenchanted brigade, who, unlike Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, have no space for growth to bleed out as well. The biggest casualty is politics itself, returning to the age-old ways of manipulation and deceit rather than just relying on a transparent verdict.

(Courtesy: The Pioneer)

It’s unlikely that Jyotiraditya will get something more from the BJP than what the Congress denied. Is he just a token?

At one level, nothing unexpected has really happened in the Congress. The young Turks, now not so young, are looking to give their political careers some individual purpose as the borrowed legacy of an institution called the Congress is fast ebbing away. Directionless without peer representation, and a leader who has quit the game a long time ago, they feel wasted and helpless with the old guard continuing their stubborn ways of what is right and wrong. Jyotiraditya Scindia’s resignation is just a summary of all that ails the Congress, where the young leaders want to keep the party’s nationalist ideology, passion and legacy alive but are dispirited for lack of recognition or being “too good” in outshining the Gandhi scions themselves. It is also but expected of the ruling BJP to claim the spoils of war, especially if that happens to be harvesting the peels of the shell the Congress has become. In this case, Scindia is the prize pick of the BJP, simply because he and his father before him had been part of the inner circle of the Gandhis and were the cushion around their leadership of the party. The visible impact of a Congress jolted by a trusted insider is far greater than any game of numbers. Frankly, the BJP really did not need Scindia as badly as the latter needed the party. His aunts, Vasundhara and Yashodhara, and grandmother Vijayraje Scindia, had delivered enough in their very influential capacities. So at another level, it is Scindia’s unchanged net worth that is unexpected. He doesn’t get much in the tradeoff, certainly nothing that makes him look like he is starting over. For ideological loyalty is not party loyalty and a man, who claims he has a hold on his former royal subjects, could have easily floated his own unit. But by switching over to the BJP, which he had sharply criticised over the Delhi riots fairly recently and changing his ideology after 18 long years, something that his father Madhavrao resisted for a lifetime, he surely looks like an opportunist. Besides, Scindia Jr is also encashing his family lineage to be of relevance to the BJP and is not casting away his dynastic mantle, something that the Gandhis are always accused of. Undoubtedly, he worked assiduously to shore up the Congress’ fortunes in Madhya Pradesh during the Assembly elections in 2018 and has reportedly been miffed at not being gifted chief ministership. But one cannot ignore that for all his claimed sway over the Gwalior belt, he lost his home turf of Guna in the Lok Sabha elections. Besides, loyalist party MLAs, who quit the party with him, aren’t keen on joining the BJP in a leap of faith. They would have if he had floated an independent State outfit perhaps, something that other young but dejected leaders in the Congress, like Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan, are rumoured to be contemplating. A fresh start gets endorsement more easily than jaded defection plots.

The BJP, which has an ideological resonance across Madhya Pradesh, a State which continues to be the crucible of Hindutva and where its long-range grassroots warrior Shivraj Singh Chouhan scripted a success story for 13 long years, is not humouring Scindia’s royal lineage either. All he gets is a Rajya Sabha membership and a Union Ministry, something which makes his move look like personal aggrandisement than a crusade or revolt. The BJP has too many strongmen that it cannot afford to upset for want of a poster boy and won’t be risking its dynamics in a sure shot heartland bastion. The party may have lost the Assembly elections of 2018 but is within snapping distance of power with 107 legislators in the 230-member House. The Congress has 120 MLAs and assuming all its 21 MLAs are gone, will dip to 104, making government formation a skilled and institutionalised game of horse-trading. This wafer-thin anxiety was the reason that the Congress went on the backfoot in effecting a generational change in State leadership and brought in old warhorse Kamal Nath as the Chief Minister, who managed numbers and survival. This is also one of the reasons why the BJP, despite having the edge, has moved its MLAs to a hotel in faraway Gurugram while the Congress has parked its own in Jaipur. Scindia said the Congress is “living in denial” but probably, he is, too, in the process over-selling his chances. The bigger casualty is undoubtedly the Congress itself. No matter who wins what round, the fact is, it is dependent on the age-old structure of self-serving fiefdoms belonging to its hawks, who have passed on timely interests earned to the ruling first family and claimed to have ownership on what works for the party. Scindia’s trigger could very well encourage its disenchanted brigade, who, unlike Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, have no space for growth to bleed out as well. The biggest casualty is politics itself, returning to the age-old ways of manipulation and deceit rather than just relying on a transparent verdict.

(Courtesy: The Pioneer)