Congress gnawing at itself like a 'termite', facing ideological bankruptcy: Scindia

GUNA: The Congress is heading towards its end and is like a "termite" gnawing at itself, Union minister and BJP Guna Lok Sabha seat candidate Jyotiraditya Scindia has said.

The Congress has become ideologically bankrupt and nobody wants to stay with it. While the party has not fielded candidates on many seats, some of its nominees have withdrawn from the poll race, Scindia told PTI in an interview.

The scion of the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior severed his 18-year-long ties with the Congress in 2020 and joined the BJP.

In a coordinated rebellion, Scindia quit along with 22 Congress MLAs loyal to him, leading to the collapse of the then 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government and the BJP's return to power in the state.

Hitting out at the Congress over its allegation that the BJP will change the Constitution if it returns to power, Scindia said the party that imposed Emergency in the country is now giving lessons on the Constitution.

"The Congress has become bankrupt in terms of ideology, human resources... Nobody wants to stay with the Congress and there is no honour and respect for anyone in the party," Scindia told PTI on his way from Guna to Shivpuri amid hectic electioneering.

"The party that used Article 356 (to impose President's rule) 91 times to dismiss elected governments, the party whose prime minister had changed the chief minister before going to Andhra Pradesh, the party which had imposed Emergency in the country is now giving us lessons on the Constitution.

"The party which defeated its own candidate Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in the elections is giving sermons to the country on the issues of Dalits and the Constitution, it should look at its track record. The Constitution is the BJP's scripture and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clarified that no one has the courage to change the Constitution," he added.

Addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind on April 30, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that if the BJP returns to power at the Centre, it will "tear apart" and "throw away" the Constitution which grants rights to the poor, Dalits, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes.

Scindia claimed the Congress is headed towards its end.

"It was not clear (till Friday) who is contesting from Amethi and Rae Bareli. The (Congress) candidates from Indore and Surat Lok Sabha seats have withdrawn from the race. There are no candidates on many seats, while on many others, they have not been declared yet. The Congress is now heading towards its end and is like a termite which is gnawing at itself," he said.

The Congress on Friday announced the candidature of Rahul Gandhi from the Rae Bareli seat, held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the last two decades, and that of Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, from Amethi.

Asked about the dip in the voter turnout in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections as against 2019, Scindia said the lotus (BJP's poll symbol) will bloom in all 29 parliamentary constituencies in Madhya Pradesh as people have complete faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

The voter turnout stood at 66.14 per cent in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections and at 66.71 per cent in the second phase, according to the Election Commission.

In 2019, a voter turnout of 69.43 per cent was recorded in the first phase and 69.64 per cent in the second phase.

Scindia is contesting the polls from Guna seat for the sixth time. He won four of the last five elections but lost the seat to sitting BJP MP and his former confidant K P Yadav in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Yadav defeated Scindia by a margin of over 1.25 lakh votes.

This is the first time in his political career that Scindia (53) is contesting as a BJP candidate from Guna, which was earlier represented by his late father Madhavrao Scindia and late grandmother Vijayaraje Scindia.

The Union civil aviation minister is pitted against the Congress' Rao Yadvendra Singh. Guna goes to polls in the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls on May 7.

Interestingly, both Scindia and his father had defeated Singh's late father Rao Deshraj Singh Yadav as Congress candidates from Guna in the 1999 general elections and the 2002 Lok Sabha bypoll.

Guna Lok Sabha constituency comprises eight assembly seats -- Shivpuri, Kolaras, Pichhore, Bamori, Guna (SC), Ashok Nagar (SC), Chanderi and Mungaoli spread across three districts (Guna, Ashoknagar and Shivpuri).

In the 2023 Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, the BJP won six seats and the Congress two.

There are 18,83,202 voters in Guna, including 9,80,683 men, 9,02,471 women and 48 third gender persons.