Cabinet reshuffle: Jyotiraditya Scindia gets cabinet berth

Jyotiraditya Scindia, 50, on Wednesday took oath as a minister after being inducted into the new Cabinet. 

Scindia is among the 43 minister who took oath at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In the order of precedence of the ministers sworn in on July 7, Scindia's name appeared to be on the fourth spot indicating that the government may place a critical portfolio under his charge. 

This was the first Cabinet reshuffle in the second innings of the Modi government that began in May 2019.

He is currently serving his 5th term as a Member of Parliament from Madhya Pradesh.

Speculations were rife that Scindia would be rewarded with a cabinet berth in the much anticipated cabinet reshuffle after his resignation along with two dozen members of legislative assembly (MLAs) led to the collapse of the Kamal Nath led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh in 2020. 

Scion of the Scindia royal family of Gwalior, Jyotiraditya Scindia entered politics from the family constituency of Guna in Madhya Pradesh following his father Madhavrao Scindia’s death in 2001.

Prior to joining politics, Scindia worked as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Scindia completed his graduation in economics from Stanford University and later did an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Scindia won comfortably from Guna in 2002 defeating Desh Raj Singh Yadav of the BJP, by a margin of approximately 4,50,000 votes. 

Scindia became a minister for the first time in 2004 in the Manmohan Singh cabinet (UPA 1) when he was given the portfolio of minister of state (MoS) for Communications and Information Technology. He was made an MoS again in 2009 and was given the commerce and industry portfolio. In 2012, following a cabinet reshuffle, Scindia was given an independent charge as MoS for the Power Ministry.

Jyotiraditya Scindia enjoyed a smooth run electorally from 2002. Even in 2014, when the Modi wave had swept the country during the Lok Sabha elections, Scindia was among the two Congress MPs who managed to retain his constituency. However his winning streak came to an end with a shock defeat from Guna during the Lok Sabha elections of 2019.

A staunch critic of the NDA government and a close aide of Congress Supremo Rahul Gandhi, Scindia once a Congress loyalist left the party after it snubbed him of leadership role in Madhya Pradesh.

Scindia’s disillusionment with Congress began in the 2018 ahead of the state assembly elections when arch rival Kamal Nath was appointed as the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president in Madhya Pradesh.

According to news reports, although Scindia was promised a Chief Minister post, the Congress high command remained non committal and picked Nath as the Chief Minister to head the state after victory in the state election thereby sidelining Scindia.

Disgruntled, Scindia resigned from Congress in March 2020.