Jyotiraditya Scindia's exit from Congress has come on a day significant for him. It is the 75th birthday, or birth anniversary, of his dad -- late Madhavrao Scindia. Jyotiraditya's story has quite a connection with Madhavrao's political tale.
It was in 1989 when then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Arjun Singh was forced to step down after a court ruled that a lottery run by his son had violated laws. Madhavrao Scindia then hoped to become chief minister. However, Arjun Singh took his loyalist MLAs to the residence of an aide to force the Congress, then led by Rajiv Gandhi, to not appoint Madhavrao to the chief minister's post. Madhavrao Scindia was so confident of getting the post that he had flown from Delhi and camped in the state for two days. But destiny didn't have it for him. Motilal Vora was made the chief minister, not Madhavrao.
Years later, Jyotiraditya Scindia too met with a similar fate in 2018 when Kamal Nath was chosen as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh over him.
Jyotiraditya Scindia and his family
Jyotiraditya Scindia is the last scion of the Scindia family of Marathas which ruled the Gwalior state in pre-independent central-India. His grandmother Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia was once a prominent figure in the Jana Sangh. Following his mother's footsteps, Madhavrao Scindia also joined the Jana Sangh. In 1971 Lok Sabha elections, the mother-son duo was among the few leaders who defied the Indira Gandhi wave and emerged victorious from their respective constituencies.
In 1980, he joined Indira Gandhi's Congress, a party which had jailed his mother during the Emergency-era. His sisters, Vasundhara Raje and Yashodhara Raje later followed their mother's footsteps and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
(With PTI inputs)
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