We came for Maharaj, not to join BJP: 12 MP Congress rebels reluctant to join saffron party

Jyotiraditya Scindia (left) and BJP National President JP Nadda (Image: @BJPLive)

On a day when former Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 12 Congress leaders who had flown down to Bengaluru with the Gwalior royal on March 9 have shown reluctance in joining the saffron gang.

The 10 MLAs and two ministers, who are loyal to the former Union minister, have reportedly clarified that they are not looking at joining the BJP.

According to an NDTV report, the MLAs said on March 11, “We came for Maharaj (Jyotiraditya Scindia) ... not to join the BJP.”

News of fissures deepening in the Kamal Nath government started doing the rounds earlier this week, when 19 Congress leaders, who are loyal to Scindia, had taken a chartered flight to the BJP-ruled state down south.

By March 10, the former Congress minister announced his decision to quit the party that he had been associated with for 18 years. Twenty-one other Congress ministers had also exited Madhya Pradesh Congress following the miffed leader’s resignation.

Scindia, who was evidently disenchanted with his role in the party, wrote in his resignation letter addressed to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi: “I am tendering my resignation from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress and as you well know, this is a path that has been drawing itself out over the last year.”