New Delhi: Accusing former chief ministers Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh of being the ‘biggest traitors’in Madhya Pradesh, BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said Monday they betrayed voters’ trust by running a ‘corrupt’ government. Jyotiraditya Scindia said he had to leave the Congress after people’s issues were raised by him. The Congress governments were not ready to address the issues, he said. Scindia also expressed confidence that the BJP will ‘win a majority’, if not all, of the 28 Assembly seats where bypolls will be held on November 3.
Scindia said 27 out of the 28 Assembly seats which are going to polls were Congress seats. So the BJP has everything to gain, while the Congress has everything to lose.
By-elections were necessitated after 22 rebel Congress MLAs, loyal to Scindia, resigned from the party in March this year. It led to the fall of the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh. Later, three more MLAs resigned and joined BJP. Another three seats fell vacant due to the death of sitting MLAs.
“The Congress needs to win 28 out of 28 seats to be able to even think of coming close to forming the government. They have just lost another MLA (in Rahul Lodhi) who has joined the BJP. It is very clear that people do not have any hope in the Congress party,” Scindia said.
“I do not think in any other state you would have seen MLAs in such a large number – almost about 30 per cent – leaving. It very clearly shows the lack of trust and faith in the state leadership of the Congress party. The Congress in MP is being led Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, and they are in a partnership,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Scindia was asked about the Congress campaign narrative of betrayal. The party has also called him ‘gaddar’ during canvassing. Scindia said it is not a term that he normally uses in politics. He believes that there must be a certain level of dignity in politics that should be adhered to.
“If they indeed are using that term then the biggest gaddars (traitors) in Madhya Pradesh are Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh. They have been ‘gaddars’ towards seven-and-a-half crore people because none of the poll promises were fulfilled. They were busy in rent-seeking activities and holding on to power and chair rather. They had no intention of serving the people of the state,” Scindia said.
Scindia also reflected on Kamal Nath’s ‘item’ jibe at BJP candidate Imarti Devi. The 49-year-old leader said public figures must adhere to certain values and morals and set an example.
Scindia said the remark was directed at a woman who has risen from the grassroots-level. Then she fought a sarpanch election, became MLA three times. She was also a Cabinet minister in the Kamal Nath government.
“Kamal Nath says he cannot remember her name, which shows his arrogance of power. He cannot remember the name of a colleague who was part of his cabinet. After all, he was only the Chief Minister, who is the first among equals, and she was a colleague,” Scindia said. “To top that, he calls a woman and that too a Dalit woman ‘an item’. It speaks of his mentality towards both women and Dalits,” he added.
Scindia also alleged that former chief minister Digvijaya Singh had also also made a derogatory comment about Meenakshi Natrajan two-three years ago. “This shows the attitude of the Congress party towards women and scheduled castes. If Baba Saheb Ambedkar was alive today, he would be very deeply grieved and pained,” Scindia pointed out.