Jyotiraditya Scindia Comments on Absence from Vijaypur Bypoll Campaign
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Bhopal, Nov 30 (NationPress) Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia stated on Saturday that he was not "invited" to engage in the campaign for the Vijaypur elections, where BJP candidate and former minister Ramniwas Rawat faced defeat against Congress' Mukesh Malhotra.
Scindia made this comment while addressing his absence from the campaign in Vijaypur, which is part of his home area, the Gwalior-Chambal region.
“If I had been called, I would have gone there,” he replied when asked by reporters about his lack of involvement in the Vijaypur bypolls.
He was among the 40 designated star campaigners for the bypolls in both Vijaypur and Budhni.
Despite this, he pointed out that the margin of defeat in the Vijaypur bypoll had shrunk in comparison to the previous Assembly elections held in November 2023. The BJP lost the Vijaypur bypoll by 7,000 votes.
“The party’s loss in the Vijaypur bypolls warrants introspection. Nevertheless, the reduced margin of defeat compared to the last election indicates an increase in the BJP’s votes,” Union Minister Scindia remarked.
It is important to note that Rawat had previously contested the Assembly election under the Congress banner, winning the Vijaypur seat with a margin exceeding 17,000 votes. He later resigned from the Congress party and the state Assembly to join the BJP.
Following the setback in the Vijaypur bypoll, Rawat claimed he was “sabotaged” by certain senior BJP members.
He also asserted that core BJP workers were “misled”.
“Some individuals believed that their influence (within the BJP) would decline if I succeeded in the by-elections. I was not defeated by the electorate in the Assembly constituency. I was defeated due to sabotage,” Rawat stated.
This statement elicited a political uproar within the BJP. To address the situation, state BJP unit chief V. D. Sharma convened a private meeting at the party headquarters.
