Jyotiraditya Scindia: ‘Cong is bankrupt on ideology, leadership… It neither respects nor retains human resource… It has nothing to offer to India’

📌 You have returned to Guna to reclaim your family seat. What are some of the learnings from the previous election?

There is no concept of reclaiming the seat. I am a public servant and my mission in life is public service. Politics is just a means to that end. You can have many means to that public service. It could be business, social service…People have blessed me four times. There must be some of my failings that I did not get their blessings last time. I tried to address their issues and am again in front of the public. Even though I was not officially their representative, I have maintained contact with them over the five years. The people of Gwalior-Chambal are my family.

📌 You were chosen by the BJP over KP Yadav, the sitting Guna MP. He had switched to the BJP from the Congress and is your former loyalist. What happens to Mr Yadav now?

BJP is a party that has a tremendous amount of respect for every single worker. We are all workers of the BJP.

📌 There was a perception of some tension in the MP BJP camp. What is your advice?

Sabko apnao. Dimaag se mat apnao, dil se apnao. (Accept everyone from your heart and not the mind.)

📌 Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has also returned to the electoral fray and is contesting from the Rajgarh seat. He is considered your principal rival in the Gwalior-Chambal region. Do you think so?

I am concerned with my own election. The concept of a democratic country is that everyone has the right to throw their hat in the ring. You must respect every political opponent.

📌 Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra passed through some of your strongholds. What do you make of him?

I am not commenting on other people. I am concerned about myself. The Congress is bankrupt on ideology, leadership, and human resources. It neither respects nor retains human resources. The Congress has nothing to offer to India.

📌 The Congress plank in this Lok Sabha election also involves a pitch for a national caste census. What are your views?

The Congress has opposed the caste census all through its existence. It opposed the Mandal Commission. A non-Congress government brought in the Mandal Commission. Today, the Congress is talking about the caste census. The Congress needs to stop speaking in a forked tongue. You can fool some of the people sometimes, but not all the time.

📌 The Opposition has said that if the BJP wins, it will change the Constitution. Some of the Opposition parties have said this is an election to choose between democracy and fascism.

The Congress has nothing positive to contribute to the people of India so it brings up these charades. Can anyone ever think of changing the Constitution of our country? The Constitution was written by Baba Saheb Ambedkar who is our Guru. By the way, Baba Saheb was defeated (by Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar of the Congress in the first general election) by the party. That is the respect they had for Baba Saheb Ambedkar. The Congress has to learn to look at itself in the mirror.