J Scindia's Restaurant Outreach Draws Rahul Gandhi Parallel. What He Said

From truck drivers to gig workers, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been interacting with people from all works of life to keep up the personal touch he has brought to his politics since his Bharat Jodo Yatra ended in January this year. So, when his former close aide - and now senior BJP leader - Jyotiraditya Scindia stopped by at a restaurant in Gwalior yesterday and spoke to the staff and patrons there, the comparisons were unavoidable. 

Mr Scindia posted a video on Twitter, showing him interacting with the cooks at the restaurant and taking the blessings of an elderly woman amid loud chants of 'Long live Jyotiraditya Scindia'. "Along with having delicious food, it's important to meet the cooks! During my visit to Gwalior today, I met the young staff at a restaurant and discussed food and local issues," the Union Minister tweeted in Hindi yesterday.

स्वादिष्ट भोजन खाने के साथ साथ जरूरी है रसोइया से मिलना! 😁

आज ग्वालियर प्रवास के दौरान एक रेस्टोरेंट के युवा कर्मचारियों से मिला एवं खाने और स्थानीय मुद्दों पर चर्चा की । pic.twitter.com/eosNtXonBS

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) July 6, 2023

When a Twitter user pointed out minutes later that Mr Scindia seemed to be taking a leaf out of Rahul Gandhi's playbook and learning from him, however, the BJP leader took a veiled dig at Mr Gandhi and tweeted: "Actually, unlearning".

Mr Scindia and 22 MLAs had rebelled against the Congress in March 2020, leading to the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh giving way to the dispensation led by BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He was elected a BJP Rajya Sabha MP the same year and appointed the Civil Aviation Minister in 2021.  

In April this year, Mr Scindia had launched a sharp attack on Mr Gandhi and the Congress and said that the party has been left with no ideology except one of a "traitor" working against the country. 

During his US visit in June, Mr Gandhi travelled from Washington to New York in a truck. The month before that, he had undertaken a truck journey from Delhi to Ambala and spoken to drivers about their problems. 

Last week, the Congress leader visited a bike-repairing shop in Delhi's Karol Bagh market and lent a hand to the mechanics there. He also spoke to the mechanics, local businessmen and workers at the market to understand their issues. Mr Gandhi had also made a similar outreach to gig workers in May.