Excerpt: Jyotiraditya Scindia Played Key Role in This Major Congress Debacle

Manjil Das, INN/Chennai
Twitter-@SGiggle29 @Infodeaofficial

Prior to Jyotiraditya’s departure from the grand old party, several Congress leaders left between 2013 and 2019. In one high-profile example, Jyotiraditya was directly responsible for the resignation of Priyanka Chaturvedi, a young and suave Congress spokesperson who is now a Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member.

Jyotiraditya’s’ inappropriate ‘handling of the Chaturvedi problem, as well as his later decision to leave the Congress, enraged several senior party officials, who blamed him for depriving the party of a ‘brilliant’ Chaturvedi.

Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray declared Chaturvedi’s admission as the Sena’s’ new sister ‘on 20 April 2019.

Chaturvedi, who was born in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, and now lives in Mumbai, rose through the ranks of the grand old party at a breakneck pace. In 2010 she joined the 10,000 Women Entrepreneurs Certificate Programme, a global project funded by the Goldman Sachs Foundation for women entrepreneurs. Since then, she’s become a household name. When Chaturvedi became general secretary of Mumbai’s north-west Indian Youth Congress in 2012, his birth year was 1979.

A seasoned and respected Congress politician, Gurudas Kamat, claimed to have noticed her ability and remained her tutor till his death. When Chaturvedi took a position in televised debates and on social media, supporting Sonia, Rahul and the party in the most enthusiastic manner, the Congress was at its most difficult.

He was one of the party’s most visible faces on TV and social media from May 2014 until April 2019.

Jyotiraditya, the AICC general secretary for Uttar Pradesh West, was surprised by Priyanka’s defection eight days before the Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai.

Jyotiraditya was the primary reason why Chaturvedi left the party, according to a closer examination. In Mumbai North, where Urmila Matondkar was fielded, the party had refused to offer her a ticket. As per Rahul’s direction, Chaturvedi was in Mathura in September 2018 to deliver a media briefing on Rafale. Congress officials in Mathura misbehaved with Chaturvedi during a media appearance there, allegedly at the request of a local party leader who regarded Chaturvedi’s origins in Mathura as a danger.

Chaturvedi was rumoured to run against BJP MP and actress Hema Malini in the 2019 parliamentary polls. Her tormentors followed Chaturvedi to a room where she had taken sanctuary after she abandoned a scheduled news appearance in a rage.

At the party, the problem was brought to the attention of the higher-ups. When she was General Secretary of AICC in charge of western Uttar Pradesh, Jyotiraditya was tasked with ensuring that an AICC women’s leader’s dignity was maintained. In the case of Chaturvedi, it was stated that Rahul was empathetic and ready to act. Jyotiraditya was purportedly urged to act by him.

Ashok Chakleshwar and Umesh Pandit were named in media reports at the time, as were Pratap Singh and Abdul Jabbar, Girdhari Lal Pathak, Bhuri Singh Jayas, Pravin Thakur, and Yatindra Mukadam. In fact, Jyotiraditya did act against them, suspending them and issuing them with show-cause notes. But after a few days, a complete 180-degree turn occurred. All of them were restored on 15 April [2019] following a stern warning. The leaders issued a formal apology in writing.

On Raj Babbar’s advice, the eight were restored after they showed sorrow and vowed not to act badly in the future, according to sources close to Jyotiraditya.

Indignant, Chaturvedi reacted angrily. ‘Deeply grieved that lumpen goon receive precedence in @incindia over those who have sacrificed their sweat and blood,’ she said on her Twitter profile. As a member of a political party, I’ve been subjected to a barrage of criticism, yet those who threatened me within the party got away with barely a warning.

As a result, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Sonia sought to intercede, but Jyotiraditya and Raj Babbar refused to rescind the decision, citing ‘sensitive’ political dynamics in Mathura as a reason. So, when Chaturvedi quit the Congress, the Gandhis wished her well on her journey.

Mumbai North candidate Matondkar, who had lost her seat, left the Congress a few months later with identical accusations of inactivity. A former Mumbai Congress president, Matondkar had accused Sandesh Kondvilkar and Bhushan Patil of mistreating her, but no action was taken. He did not have an active role in the episode.

As a result of the sudden departures of Chaturvedi, Matondkar, and others, the Congress central leadership (read the Gandhis) allowed a sense of despair to sink into the ranks.