Jyotiraditya Scindia hits back at Rahul Gandhi's "backbencher" taunt
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jyotiraditya Scindia today shot back at former Congress president Rahul Gandhi's comment that he had become a "backbencher" after joining the saffron party. Scindia, 50, has responded to the taunt saying he wished that the Congress leader had shown similar concerns when he was in that party. Here's more on what he said.
What had Gandhi said about Scindia?
Yesterday, Gandhi spoke about Scindia, once his close-aide, at a meeting of the Youth Wing of the Congress. "He (Scindia) would have become the Chief Minister had he stayed with Congress but has become a backbencher in the BJP...I told him - One day you will become the Chief Minister. But he chose another route (sic)," Gandhi had reportedly commented.
Wish Gandhi was as concerned earlier, says Scindia
"Write it down, he will never become Chief Minister there. He will have to come back here for that," the Congress leader had further said, according to ANI. Responding to Gandhi's remark on Tuesday, Scindia reportedly said, "It would have been a different situation had Rahul Gandhi been concerned the same way as he is now, when I was in the Congress."
Scindia had left the Congress last March
Scindia had left the Congress, the party he had been associated with for 19 years, in March last year. Along with him, several other legislators loyal to him also quit the party to join the rival BJP, eventually leading to the collapse of the party's government led by then-Chief Minister Kamal Nath and the return of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.
Next Assembly elections in MP due in 2023
It has been reported that before joining the BJP, Scindia had, for more than a year, been trying to get an appointment with Rahul Gandhi or party president Sonia Gandhi, but failed. He is currently a BJP Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha. The next Legislative Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh are due to be held in 2023.
