While Jyotiraditya Scindia did not cover himself in glory by defecting to the BJP, he managed to unseat arch-rival Kamal Nath as chief minister. Beaten for the first time in an electorate battle in May 2019, Jyotiraditya, (Bal to friends and close family friends) turned restless and edgy in December 2018 when the Congress leadership (Sonia and Rahul Gandhi) picked veteran Kamal Nath as state party chief ahead of him. Jyotiraditya sulked and sulked but sources close to Sonia maintained that an informal headcount conducted among newly elected Congress MLAs had given Nath a thumbs up.
Sitting in central hall of parliament, Maharaja Bhanu Pratap of Narsingarh (Bhanu Pratap died in January 2019), one of the subjects of erstwhile Gwalior empire, had succinctly explained why Jyotiraditya had lost the battle for chief minister’s post. “There are two reasons for it,”
Bhanu Pratap, himself a former parliamentarian, had told veteran journalist Nirmal Pathak and few others: “Everyone knows Maharaj Jyotiraditya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh but he knows very few there. Secondly, the maharaja’s kurta reportedly does not have pockets”. The reference to kurta and pockets was an allusion to Scindias’ (in)famous inability to spend money and extend patronage.
It just seemed the other day when during March-April 2018, Scindia and Nath had teamed up to keep Digvijaya Singh out. This was the time when Madhya Pradesh state polls were round the corner. They often spoke with a sense of camaraderie. “We are one. You can check with Jyoti...,” Nath would often tell me.
Jyotiraditya, a little more guarded, would say he is open to the idea of supporting anyone that the party high command entrusts responsibility. At that juncture, these regional satraps seemed making a conscious bid to keep Digvijya, who was busy doing a 1,100-mile long Narmada river parikarma on foot, out of race.
In early December 2019, the Congress emerged victorious in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Virtually everyone in the Congress and outside expected Rahul, who was 87th president of the grand old party, to usher in some young blood. However, his three-act play turned out to be a disaster. The Congress’ three leaders — Kamal Nath, Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Bhagel — earned their jobs in Bhopal, Jaipur and Raipur, respectively, not just through grit and hard work, but because of some last-minute, behind-the-scene deliberations as well.
Regardless of Maharaja Bhanu Pratap’s uncharitable comments, Jyotiraditya kept counting heavily on Rahul. They had known each other from the age of four, went to Doon School and St Stephen’s College together. Both left their respective courses (Jyotiraditya was enrolled in BA Pass and Rahul in History Hons).
However, as the 87th president of AICC then, Rahul turned a tad neutral. The weighty office of Congress president perhaps deprived him from currying a favour to his friend. This was crucial to the events that unfolded in early March 2020. As someone had remarked once, “Friendship is the most beautiful gift of God. If you have a loyal best friend, you are the happiest person in this word, but if that one loyal friend betrays you, you get disappointed and hurt.” For dispassionate observers, Jyotiraditya’s subsequent moves were a curious mix of him creating his own heartbreak through expectations or nursing a deep grudge against Gandhis for honouring their promises.
For the record, the choice of Madhya Pradesh Congress chief minister on December 13, 2018 was strictly on the basis of number-crunching. Jyotiraditya supporters till date claim that they had won 26 of the 34 seats in the Gwalior-Chambal region, as against Nath’s 24 out of 38 Assembly seats in the Mahakaushal region. That was when former CM Digvijaya Singh took centre-stage, sharing a photograph of 31 newly-elected MLAs calling on his son Jaivardhan, who had won from Raghogarh principality falling under erstwhile Gwalior Empire. The subtle message was that Jyotiraditya’s support of 26 MLAs meant little when a “non-contender” like Jaivardhan had 31 MLAs behind him.