BJP declares nine candidates for Rajya Sabha election, names Jyotiraditya Scindia from MP

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday (March 11, 2020) named Jyotiraditya Scindia as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh soon after he joined the party.

The BJP announced the names of its nine Rajya Sabha candidates, including former Congress leader Bhubaneswar Kalita from Assam, and allotted two seats to its allies, including Dalit leader and Union minister Ramdas Athawale from Maharashtra.

Scindia had quit the Congress on Tuesday. He is an influential leader of Madhya Pradesh where 22 Congress MLAs, most of whom loyal to him, have resigned from the assembly in a bid to topple the Kamal Nath-led government.

A day after resigning from the Congress, Scindia had joined the BJP on Wednesday in presence of the ruling party's president JP Nadda and hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership, saying the country's future is secure in his hands.

Welcoming him into the BJP, Nadda recalled the party's founder and Jyotiraditya's grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia and said, "he is joining his family and we welcome him."
Thanking Prime Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda, Scindia said they have given him the platform to serve the people.

"Pained" and "distressed" for not able to serve the people in his previous organisation, he said the Congress is living in denial and it is not the same party what it used to be.

Hailing PM Modi for his leadership, Scindia said the country's future is secure in his hands. Talking about Madhya Pradesh, the erstwhile Congress leader said the dream which he saw with his former colleagues for the state has been shattered in the last 18 months.

According to sources, the BJP is also confident of forming the government in the state with his help as 22 MLAs including Scindia's supporters have resigned from the state assembly reducing the Kamal Nath government to a minority.

Peeved with his marginalisation in the Congress, Scindia met Amit Shah on Tuesday and then the two leaders went to the Prime Minister's residence where they held talks for over an hour. Soon after meeting PM Modi, he tendered his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying it was time for him to move on.

Scindia took the decision to sever his ties with the Congress on the day of his father Madhavrao Scindia's 75th birth anniversary.

A four-time MP, Scindia first got elected from Guna in Madhya Pradesh in 2002 after winning a bye-election necessitated by his father's demise. He was only 31 years old at that time.

He gradually made his way up the Congress ladder becoming Minister of State for Communications and IT in 2007 during the Congress-led UPA-1. In 2009, he became Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and in 2012 was appointed Minister of State for Power during UPA-2.

After the Congress lost the 2014 General Election, Sonia Gandhi named him the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha.