#Politics | ‘24-carat gaddar’ vs ‘dignified’ rebel: Cong’s degrees of separation for Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kapil Sibal

BJP slams Jairam Ramesh comment for Scindia, says he is actually '24-carat patriot'

Jairam Ramesh said Kapil Sibal (left) maintained a "dignified" silence after leaving Congress, but Jyotiraditya Scindia is a "240carat gaddar".

Addressing media on the sidelines of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra that is currently crossing Madhya Pradesh, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh Friday termed Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia a “24-carat gaddar (traitor)”.

With MP Scindia’s home turf, Ramesh said, “Scindia is a gaddar, true gaddar, real gaddar and 24-carat gaddar”.

He added that people like Kapil Sibal who maintained a “dignified silence” after leaving the Congress could still be allowed to return to the party, but not others like Scindia or Himanta Biswa Sarma, news agency PTI reported.

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Asked specifically about the party’s stand regarding taking back rebel leaders who wished to return, he said, “I think people who have left the Congress should not be welcomed back.” He went on to clarify, “But there are people who left the party with dignity and have been maintaining a dignified silence on the Congress party and its leadership.”

Reacting to Ramesh’s remarks, Madhya Pradesh BJP secretary Rajneesh Agrawal said Scindia was a “24-carat patriot, with strong cultural roots”. Both Scindia and Sarma have “24 carat” commitment to their work and Ramesh’s remarks were “uncultured” and “totally undemocratic”, Agrawal added.

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Ramesh’s remarks came days after Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot referred to his former deputy and political rival Sachin Pilot as “gaddar”, a comment that had been frowned upon by the party.

Scindia left the Congress in 2020, after its second successive humiliating defeat in Lok Sabha elections. A former Union minister in the Manmohan Singh cabinet, Scindia’s resignation triggered a political crisis in MP, with more than 20 legislators leaving the Congress with him, resulting in the collapse of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government.

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Soon after leaving the party, Scindia was fielded by the BJP for a Rajya Sabha seat, and after winning, made a Union minister.

Read | ‘Name-calling’ serves no purpose: Sachin Pilot on Gehlot’s ‘gaddaar’ remark

In his resignation letter to party leader Sonia Gandhi, which he posted on Twitter, Scindia wrote, “While my aim and purpose remain the same, as it has always been from the very beginning, to serve the people of my state and country, I believe I am unable to do this anymore within this party.”

Sarma left the Congress in 2015, launching a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi and blaming his “mismanagement” for the party’s failure in the 2014 general election. Sarma then joined the BJP and went on to become a Union minister and later chief minister of Assam.

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