Bhopal/New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is sulking ever since he lost in Madhya Pradesh’s chief ministerial race to Kamal Nath in December, on Monday triggered fresh speculation about his political future by dropping his Congress link in a revised Twitter bio.
His loyalist and state women and child welfare minister Imarti Devi, coincidentally, also changed her Twitter bio identifying herself simply as an MLA, not a minister, leaving state Congress leaders wondering what the Scindia camp was up to.
The growing ripples in state political circles prompted Mr Scindia to post a one-line Twitter comment, saying: “Ridiculous commotions over a Twitter profile change done almost a month ago!”
In August this year, Mr Scindia had told the high command that he should be made state unit chief, else he “had other options”. In December 2018, when the Congress came to power in the state, chief minister Kamal Nath was the state unit chief. He had said that since he has taken over as the CM, the state unit chief must be changed. However, the high command decided that no changes be made till Lok Sabha elections. Mr Scindia was amongst the top runners then. After the disastrous results in Lok Sabha, with Mr Scindia losing his own Lok Sabha seat, the changes were put on hold.
Mr Scindia’s old Twitter profile introduced him thus: “Former member of Parliament, Guna (2002-2019), former minister for power (I/C); MoS Commerce and Industry; MoS Communications, IT& Post”, whereas his latest Twitter bio simply states: “Public servant, cricket enthusiast”.
Mr Scindia also justified omitting his party affiliation in his Twitter account, saying he never mentioned it in his Twitter bio earlier. He explained he had revised his Twitter bio to make it shorter on some people’s advice.
The BJP, however, wondered aloud why the change of status by Mr Scindia in his Twitter profile had drawn the media’s attention. “It seems Mr Scindia is not comfortable with his present identity (Congress) and seeks to change his profile to give him a new identity. Does it not indicate that he is not feeling comfortable in the Congress?” BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal said in Bhopal.
Mr Scindia’s recent exposure of the Kamal Nath government’s failure on several fronts, particularly the CM’s inability to fulfil his promise to waive off farm loans up to '2 lakh, raised many eyebrows in party circles in Madhya Pradesh. Some MP Congress leaders feel Mr Scindia is just using pressure tactics to force the Congress to make him the PCC president.
After Lok Sabha election results in May this year, the then Congress president Rahul Gandhi resigned taking moral responsibility of the party’s electoral performance and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi was made the interim party chief. Mr Kamal Nath met the Congress chief regarding changes in the state unit. Several names were doing the rounds. Supporters of Mr Scindia in the MP Cabinet came out openly in support of him. But sources say that Mr Kamal Nath was not very keen, and instead proposed other names.
It has been three months since the discussions on change in the state unit chief took place and there has been no movement. In the meantime, there was an Assembly byelection in which the Congress candidate won, consolidating the Congress’ position. As of now, Mr Scindia has clarified his position on the missing link in his bio. However, if the party doesn’t soon take steps to sort out differences, it could well be staring at a crisis in the state.
