MP: Jyotiraditya makes the cut as Congress' chief ministerial candidate
Marking a generational shift in Madhya Pradesh's Congress politics, Jyotiraditya Scindia, 46, has emerged as the chief ministerial candidate. Senior leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh were also in the fray. Kamal Nath made this announcement in Scindia's Guna constituency. This ends the suspense about who will be Congress' CM candidate for 2019 to take on BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Know more!
Who is Jyotiraditya Scindia?
Jyotiraditya Scindia, son of Congress leader and Maharaja of Gwalior Madhavrao Scindia, joined politics after his father's death in a plane crash. Jyotiraditya, an economics graduate with an MBA, was elected to the LS from his father's constituency Guna in 2002. When the UPA government was at the Centre, Jyotiraditya handled varied cabinet portfolios including Communications and IT, Commerce and Industry and Power.
How has Congress' journey in MP progressed?
MP has provided many politicians to the Congress, including Motilal Vora, Arjun Singh, Kamal Nath, Madhavrao Scindia and Digvijaya Singh. Congress had reigned in MP from 1980-1990 and then from 1993-2003. However, in 2003, then-CM Digvijaya Singh's government was thrashed by the BJP as they won only 38 seats in the 230-member assembly. This failure was attributed to faulty power (electricity) policies.
Following Congress' MP fall, BJP rules MP unhindered
After Digvijaya Singh-led Congress was thrashed in MP, BJP's Uma Bharti came to power. Following Uma Bharti's arrest in a Hubli riots case, Shivraj Chouhan was appointed the CM in 2005. Since his appointment, Shivraj has projected himself as the state's poster boy and has consistently led his party to wins in 2008 and 2013 Assembly elections.
What has worked in BJP's favor?
Shivraj's strategy for elections has been to nullify anti-incumbency by targeting a rather divided Congress. Congress had failed to put up a united front and was burdened by factions of Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Suresh Pachouri, Meenakshi Natrajan and Sajan Singh Verma.
Is the CM candidate's announcement going to solve this problem?
It is unclear whether Congress' power struggle will end after the CM candidature announcement. Digvijaya has decided to take Narmada's 3400 km Parikrama. Though he claims it is not political, he will cover 100 of the state's 230 Assembly segments. This may be an attempt to stay relevant. Considering his position within the party and strong oratory skills, Jyotiraditya can't be dismissive of him.
