JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA IS no stranger to the BJP. His links to the saffron party go beyond grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia and aunts Vasundhara Raje and Yashodhara Raje Scindia—all BJP members.
When Scindia went to his ancestral village to perform the last rites of his father, Madhavrao Scindia, who died in a plane crash in September 2001, he was accompanied by Arun Jaitley, then minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Jaitley and Scindia Sr were thick friends. So much so that Jaitley had a photograph of Scindia Sr on his table at his home in Kailash Colony, Delhi. Jaitley also represented him in court in the hawala scam in 1996.
Cricket, too, united Jaitley and the Scindias. Scindia was a member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India; Scindia Sr was once president of the BCCI. In November 2014, Scindia’s son, Mahanaryaman, underwent training for three months in the finance ministry—when he had the portfolio. Mahanaryaman, who recently graduated from Yale University, was often seen in Jaitley’s office even during key meetings—a rare sight in the deeply divided polity post the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Thanks to his proximity to Jaitley, Scindia was rarely criticised by BJP leaders.
This story is from the March 22, 2020 edition of THE WEEK.
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This story is from the March 22, 2020 edition of THE WEEK.
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