Home India Eight months ago, Jyotiraditya Scindia said: ‘BJP tries to grab power through back door’

Eight months ago, Jyotiraditya Scindia said: ‘BJP tries to grab power through back door’

On Tuesday, Scindia quit the Congress, setting the ball rolling for the BJP’s efforts to topple the Kamal Nath-led Congress government, which was voted to power in Madhya Pradesh in December 2018.

Jyotiraditya Scindia in Delhi. (ANI)

“The BJP’s intention is to kill democracy and when it is unable to win an election directly, its attention turns to grabbing power through backdoor methods.” This was Jyotiraditya Scindia just eight months ago when the Congress-JD(S) Government in Karnataka was on the brink of collapse.

On Tuesday, Scindia quit the Congress, setting the ball rolling for the BJP’s efforts to topple the Kamal Nath-led Congress government, which was voted to power in Madhya Pradesh in December 2018.

Scindia, an AICC general secretary who was a member of the Congress Working Committee, has been scathing in his criticism of the BJP and the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Just a fortnight ago, he had accused BJP leaders of spreading the “politics of hate” when communal violence rocked northeast Delhi.

Congress workers burn an effigy of Jyotiraditya Scindia at the party headquarters in Bhopal, Tuesday. (PTI)

In 2016, as chief whip of the Congress in the Lok Sabha during Modi’s first term, Scindia described Sonia Gandhi as a “sherni” (lioness) who will make the BJP “repent” for targeting her.

“Whenever the name of Sonia Gandhi comes, they start feeling irritated and they are afraid of her. You should be. Because she is a lioness and she will make you repent,” Scindia had said while defending Gandhi on the AgustaWestland helicopter scam.

Read | From contender for party president’s post to deserter: Jyotiraditya Scindia’s changing fortunes in Congress

Even in the months following the Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP returned to power with a thumping mandate, Scindia kept up his attack against the ruling party on a range of issues — from management of the economy to alleged lapses in internal security.

But some of his most scathing remarks against the BJP came last July, when political uncertainty rocked Karnataka. “The BJP has only one wish, how to kill the democracy. They did it in Arunachal Pradesh, in Manipur, in Goa…and now, the same process is being played in Karnataka,” he had said.

His most recent comments against the BJP came a fortnight ago, on February 26, when he tweeted that “the situation in Delhi today is the result of a huge failure of duty on the part of the state and central governments. What took them so long to respond to the situation.” He said BJP leaders have “got to stop spreading the politics of hate…”

Read | From contender for party president’s post to deserter: Jyotiraditya Scindia’s changing fortunes in Congress

Madhya Pradesh crisis: 19 Congress MLAs, including six state ministers, from Madhya Pradesh have also tendered their resignation. (Express photo)

Earlier, on February 14, the first anniversary of the terror attack in Pulwana, Scindia said that “a year passed since the unfortunate Pulwama attack took place. Has there been a serious investigation? Who was responsible? The government needs to answer. The least we can do is not let our martyr’s sacrifice go in vain.”

On January 13, he said: “It is beyond shocking to see a leader of the BJP advocating for people to be shot in the land of Gandhiji. When will the BJP take action against people like him? Enough is enough.” He was reacting to West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh’s remarks that BJP governments in Assam, UP and Karnataka have “shot” anti-CAA protesters “like dogs, dragged them away and even slapped cases”.

Read | 1996 redux: When Madhavrao Scindia left the Congress to chart an independent course

Questioning the BJP’s track record on the economic front, while addressing the Congress’s Bharat Bachao rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi in December, Scindia said: “We all watch Hindi films. But what will happen if the plot of a Hindi film turns into reality? What would be the scenes? The scenes would be: youth are unemployed, farmers are under debt, poor people are helpless, GDP is sliding continuously, businesses are being closed down and the money of the poor are being snatched to compensate losses from bank frauds. And if this is a scene from the movie, the title of the movie would be called “all is well”. “Acche din has turned out to be kacche (the good days have turned sour),” he had said in a reference to the BJP’s poll slogan.

Digvijaya Singh on MP crisis: ‘There’ll be surprises when floor test happens… admire Kamal Nath’s grit’

On Tuesday, however, Scindia turned against his own party. In his resignation letter posted on Twitter, and addressed to Sonia Gandhi, he wrote: “While my aim and purpose remains the same as it has always been from the very beginning, to serve the people of my state and my country, I believe I am unable to do this anymore within this party.”

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.