Lok Sabha election 2024: BJP names Jyotiraditya Scindia from Madhya Pradesh's Guna

Jyotiraditya Scindia, who lost the Guna seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, has been granted another chance by BJP

Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will be the BJP’s candidate from the Guna constituency in Madhya Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

In 2019, Scindia, who was then with the Congress, was defeated from Guna by BJP’s Krishna Pal Singh by around 1.25 lakh votes. At present, the minister is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

The BJP came out with its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on March 2, announcing 195 candidates across 16 states and two union territories.

Scindia, who was with the Congress till 2020, represented the Guna constituency from 2002 to 2019. Scindia's grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia and father Madhavrao Scindia, too, represented Guna in the Lok Sabha.

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Scindia has a deep-rooted connection with the constituency and his loss in 2019 was seen as a marked shift away from Scindias.

“BJP's top leadership has given me an opportunity to serve the brothers and sisters of Guna. I am really fortunate. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, Union home minister Amit Shah ji and BJP president JP Nadda ji,” he tweeted after the release of the list.

“I am hopeful and have full confidence that the people of Guna will bless me. I will try my level best to fulfill expectations of the people of Guna. Fir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar.”

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Scindia quit the Congress in 2020 and joined the BJP and within hours, he was nominated for the Rajya Sabha. His exit from the Congress led to the fall of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh.

The BJP’s dominance in Madhya Pradesh, having won 28 out of 29 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, will be put to test as heavyweights from both (Congress and BJP) are set to take on each other during the upcoming parliamentary polls.