New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, speaking on his close aide Jyotiraditya Scindia’s defection to the BJP, said he “abandoned his ideology” because he was worried about his political future. “There is a difference between what Jyotiraditya Scindia is saying and what is in his heart,” the Congress leader told reporters, reminding that they had known each other since college days.
Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress, his party of 18 years, and joined the BJP yesterday in one of the most high-profile crossovers in recent times. At a press conference at the BJP headquarters yesterday, he said the Congress had lost touch with reality and was no longer the party it used to be.
“This is a fight of ideology, clear cut. On one side is Congress and the BJP-RSS on the other. I know Jyotiraditya Scindia’s ideology, he was with me in college, I know him very well. He got worried about his political future, put his ideology in his pocket and went with the RSS,” said Rahul Gandhi.
“The reality is, he will get neither respect there, neither will the emotion in his heart get satisfaction. I have an old friendship with Jyotiraditya,” predicted the MP, who quit as Congress president last year after the party’s second straight national election drubbing.