Holi shock for Congress, Jyotiraditya Scindia quits, 22 MLAs also resign as MP govt teeters on edge

In a massive setback for the Congress, its prominent youth leader Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party and in a coordinated rebellion on Tuesday 22 MLAs loyal to him resigned in Madhya Pradesh, pushing the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government to the brink of collapse.

Scindia, 49, appeared set to join the BJP, a party which had his late grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia as one of the leading lights amid speculation he will get a Rajya Sabha ticket and be made a union minister.

A shell-shocked Congress, in a largely symbolic move of no consequence, expelled Scindia, the party general secretary and scion of the erstwhile Gwalior royal family, on charges of anti-party activities.

On Tuesday morning, as much of India was celebrating Holi, Scindia, once considered a rising star of the Congress, met senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah, following which he called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence.

There was no official word on what transpired at the meetings. However, BJP sources asserted that the decision of the party's top two leaders to hold long deliberations with Scindia underlined the importance they attach to him.

In the resignation letter dated March 9 to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Scindia said "it is now time for me to move on" as he was unable to serve the people of the country while remaining in the party.

The Congress party said his letter was received at Sonia Gandhi's residence only at 12.20 pm on Tuesday, a day which was also Scindia's father and Congress stalwart Madhavrao Scindia's 75th birth anniversary.

With Scindia quitting the party, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh appeared headed for a collapse. Sources said 22 Congress MLAs from Scindia's camp have quit the party--19 of them sent in their resignations to Governor Lal Ji Tandon while three despatched it to the Speaker directly.

Six of the MLAs are ministers. After their resignation, Kamal Nath wrote to the Governor seeking their immediate removal.

The Congress, whose tally before the rebellion is 114, has a wafer-thin majority in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly whose current effective strength is 228.

The Congress has the support of four Independents, two BSP and one SP MLA. Even with their support, Congress will fall sort of a majority, and it is anyway unclear if they will continue to support the Congress or go with BJP
Soon thereafter, a statement from AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the Congress president has "approved the expulsion of Jyotiraditya Scindia from the Indian National Congress with immediate effect for anti-party activities."