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Jyotiraditya's reply to Rahul's 'backbencher' jibe: 'Had he been this worried'
In March last year, Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP leading to the fall of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh.
BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said things would have been very different had Congress leader Rahul Gandhi been as concerned about him before as he has become now, a day after Rahul Gandhi said Scindia will have to come back to the Congress if he wants to become a chief minister.
"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 said.
Addressing the executive committee meeting of the Indian Youth Congress, Rahul Gandhi on Monday said he had assured Jyotiraditya Scindia that he would become the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh one day. But as Scindia chose a different path and left the party to become a backbencher on the BJP, now he can never become the chief minister.
"Write it down, he will never become Chief Minister there. He will have to come back here for that," Rahul said.
In March last year, Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP leading to the fall of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh. Senior Congress leader of the state Digvijaya Singh had said Scindia was offered the post of the deputy CM but he turned it down and wanted to place someone else, which was rejected by Kamal Nath. In his defence, Scindia at that time said that he refused the post as he wanted to work for the people.
The episode saw a near re-run in Rajasthan after Congress leader Sachin Pilot turned into a rebel but was later placated by the Ashok Gehlot government.
Rahul Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia's association goes back a long way and after Scindia left the party, Rahul said they went to the college together and his doors were always open for Scindia. "Jyotiraditya is the only one who can walk into my house anytime... He was with me in college," Rahul had said.
