New Delhi : Jyotiraditya Scindia made a comeback in the Union Cabinet as an NDA leader for the first time. The young leader was given the charge of the Civil Aviation Ministry on Wednesday.
The last year has probably been the most difficult for the royal in a political career of almost two decades. As a politician accustomed to being publicly hailed by followers, colleagues and even rivals with epithets such as Shrimant and Maharaj, Scindia had to face criticism not only from followers but also old-time colleagues such as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Jyotiraditya Scindia’s long and eventful political career in the Congress party started after his father Madhavrao Scindia’s untimely death in 2001. And on 10 March, 2020 — on the birth anniversary of his father — Scindia embarked on a new political journey in his life with the BJP.
Scindia, in the grand old party, brought what most refer to as suave, highly educated, untainted and with a clear understanding of issues and a deep connection to the grassroots.After the untimely death of Madhavrao Scindia in a plane crash, Jyotiraditya Scindia took the plunge in electoral politics and filed a nomination for the by-election in the Guna parliamentary constituency of Madhya Pradesh. Scindia, the grandson of Jivajirao Scindia (the last maharaja of the princely state of Gwalior), defeated his nearest rival, the BJP’s Desh Raj Singh, by a margin of 4,50,000 votes. He went on to win the seat for four straight terms but lost the polls in the last general elections.
Scindia is Harvard and Stanford University-educated and had been the Congress’ pillar of strength not just in Madhya Pradesh but in the Centre as well. During the UPA government, Scindia was inducted in the Union council of ministers first as the minister of state for communications and information technology in 2008. A year later, in the second UPA government, the young Scindia was given the charge of Commerce and Industry as the minister of state. On October 28, 2012, Scindia was made the Union minister of state (independent charge) for power. In Parliament, Rahul Gandhi, Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora and Jitin Prasada were seen as a close-knit group that sat next to each other and often led the party’s attack against the political rivals.
