Editorial - A royal snub: When Scindia called it a day

Politics is the art of the possible, the German statesman Otto Von Bismarck famously quipped. But given the twists and turns in India, politics is often the art of the impossible. 

That Jyotiraditya Scindia, a former Union Minister in Manmohan Singh’s government and a member of the erstwhile royal family in Madhya Pradesh, has been deeply dissatisfied with the Congress High Command was an open secret. 

But given his political record – a Congressman for 18 years and an MP for four successive terms – his defection to the BJP is something of a surprise. At one level, the switch may be interpreted in terms of sheer personal expediency – a promise of a Rajya Sabha seat and a Union ministership are rumours making the rounds. 

But the larger story has less to do with Scindia and more to do with the parlous state of the Congress party. Ever since the 2019 Lok Sabha election result, which saw the Congress plummet to its worst ever performance, the party has been in a limbo, thanks to its inability to elect a full-time president after Rahul Gandhi’s resignation in a fit of pique. 

Although the Congress had performed creditably in the 2018 Assembly elections – winning Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh – Rahul Gandhi weighed in favour of the Congress’ old guard over those who could have lent the party a much-needed image makeover. 

Scindia was passed up in favour of Kamal Nath for the chief ministership and soon found himself exercising less power in his home state than even Digvijaya Singh, another veteran. In Rajasthan too, the Congress high command chose Ashok Gehlot over the charismatic Sachin Pilot. 

Was this just poor decision-making? Maybe. But it is difficult to rule out the theory that they were a result of Rahul Gandhi’s reluctance to hand out power to those of his generation – in other words, potential rivals.

In fact, Pilot’s tweet that it was “unfortunate” to see Scindia go and that it would have been better if things were worked out “collaboratively” sounds like an ominous warning. There is no doubt that there is a growing discomfort amongst younger Congressmen of the stranglehold of the power that an old coterie exercises over the Gandhi family. 

Quite strangely, Rahul Gandhi’s only reaction has been to tweet a picture of him flanked by Kamal Nath and Scindia with the aphorism: “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time”. But clearly, the former is wearing thin for many Congressmen and the latter is running out for the party.