Gwalior: Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia played a major role in the BJP coming back to power in Madhya Pradesh, but due to the increasing activity of Scindia in the Gwalior-Chambal region it is fast turning into a political storm. There are also indications that the relationship between Scindia and Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has turned sour.
Jyotiraditya Scindia's recent visit to the Gwalior-Chambal region has already scripted a new political story. Morena is the parliamentary constituency of Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar where 25 people died recently due to consumption of spurious liquor in two villages. Scindia not only shared the grief of the victims' families by visiting the villages but also gave financial aid of Rs 50,000 each to the families of the affected people.
Scindia assured them that the state government will take strict action against the culprits. The former Union minister said he may not stand with the people in happier times but was with them in the time of crisis.
During Scindia's stay in Morena and Gwalior, no major leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was seen alongside him. However, those who recently left the Congress and joined the BJP including cabinet ministers in the current Shivraj Singh Chouhan government such as Pradhuman Singh Tomar, Suresh Rathkheda, OPS Bhadoria, were present. People associated with the BJP and minister Bharat Singh Kushwah, who is considered close to Tomar, stayed away.
The day after Scindia's visit, Tomar also reached out to the affected families. During the visit by Tomar, no minister who is a supporter of Scindia, was seen there. Tomar said he spoke to the Chief Minister on the day of the tragedy and is in constant touch with him.
Strict action needs to be taken against those found guilty in the incident. We all need to share the sorrow in this hour of grief. People will take lessons from this incident so that such cases are not repeated, Tomar added.
According to BJP sources, the friction between Scindia and Tomar began to increase during the recent Assembly by-elections, After the results, the fissures between the two leaders became more visible. The Morena hooch tragedy has made it clear that the relationship between the two leaders is not the same as it used to be.
On the one hand, where the friction between Scindia and Tomar is increasing, on the other hand, Chief Minister Chouhan and BJP state President Vishnu Datt Sharma openly applauded Scindia and credited him for the BJP forming the government in the state.
Political analyst Dev Shrimali believes that while Scindia has his own style of functioning, the BJP operates under a system, has its own organisational structure and a set of rules and procedures. It is not easy for Scindia to completely gel in the BJP. This is the reason that during his stay, old BJP leaders and workers were not seen, only those who left the Congress and joined the BJP were present there.
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