Amid MP groupism rumours, Nath-Scindia take joint chopper ride

Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh were pleasantly surprised after Chief Minister Kamal Nath and former MP Jyotiraditya Scindia went to a wedding together in a helicopter, amid reports of party factionalism pitting them on opposite sides.

Scindia, who lost from family stronghold Guna in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, has been the target of rumours that he is unhappy in the party, though the Gwalior royal family scion himself has brushed them aside several times.

According to party sources, Scindia, who was to move to Morena by road from Gwalior on Saturday to attend a wedding in the family of MP minister Banwari Sharma, phoned Nath and then decided to go to the venue in a helicopter with the CM.

The two returned to Gwalior in the same aircraft, they said.

The "thaw", as some "pleasantly surprised" local leaders have called the incident, is good news for MP Congress as just two days ago, a party MLA had claimed he would be the first to join any new outfit floated by Scindia.

The Pohri MLA, Suresh Rathkheda, however hastened to add there was no possibility of Scindia leaving the Congress to form a new party.