‘This is ghar wapsi’: BJP’s Yashodhara Raje on Jyotiraditya Scindia’s decision

As Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the Congress party, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and his aunt welcomed the Madhya Pradesh politician back home.

Scindia, the former Union minister and four-time lawmaker had resigned from the Congress in the morning after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi.

Jyotiraditya Scindia is expected to join the BJP in the evening and, according to a party functionary, his name could be proposed as a candidate from Madhya Pradesh.

His grandmother, Vijaya Raje Scindia, was one of the founders of the Jana Sangh, the precursor to the BJP. His aunt Vasundhara Raje is a former Union minister and ex-chief minister of Rajasthan and another aunt Yashodhara Raje is a former minister in the Madhya Pradesh cabinet.

As Jyotiraditya Scindia’s resignation came on the 75th birth anniversary of his father Madhavrao Scindia, Yashodhara Raje said she was “very happy” with her nephew’s decision and congratulated him.

“This is ‘ghar wapsi’. Madhavrao Scindia had started his political career with Jana Sangh. Jyotiraditya was being neglected in Congress,” Yashodhara Raje Scindia was quoted as saying by news agency.

Yashodhara Raje is the younger



sister of Jyotiraditya’s father late Madhavrao Scindia. She had served as a minister for sports in the previous BJP government headed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

“Rajmata’s blood took the decision in the national interest, we will walk together, form a new country, now every distance has been covered. I warmly welcome the bold move by @JM_Scindia to leave the Congress,” she also tweeted.

The 49-year-old politician’s exit from the Congress came amid the crisis in the party’s Madhya Pradesh unit where 20 Congress legislators, including six ministers, submitted their resignation to Governor Lalji Tandon amidst a buzz that the Kamal Nath government could fall.

Scindia’s letter, in which he spoke about a “fresh start” to realise the aspiration of the people and his supporters, was dated a day earlier: March 9. Moments after he announced his decision to move out of the party, the Congress announced that Sonia Gandhi had approved his expulsion for “anti-party activities”.

Jyotiraditya Scindia’s decision came after weeks and months of speculation about his plans. In his letter to Sonia Gandhi, he alluded to the developments in the Congress state unit in Madhya Pradesh over the past year, that he indicated, had led him to take the decision to walk out of the party.