Union minister and Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia says Modi not a factor in Madhya Pradesh
Gwalior:
Jyotiraditya Scindia, a key face of the Congress in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, says he wants Narendra Modi to come and campaign, because it will help the Congress in the November 25 election in the state.
"Mr Modi is not a factor at all. We want him to come here as he will sink the BJP's chances," Mr Scindia told NDTV, calling the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate a "good omen" for his party.
"We will win this time. I see the people's expectations from us," Mr Scindia said, pointing out that Mr Modi was the BJP's in-charge of polls in Madhya Pradesh in 1998 that saw the Congress coming to power.
The 42-year-old politician had earlier said that wherever Mr Modi has gone into the assembly polls, the Congress has come to power. He cited Karnataka, Himachal and Uttarakhand.
Mr Scindia, a union minister and the MP from Guna, is widely seen as a candidate for Chief Minister if the Congress returns to power in the state where the Scindia royal family has enjoyed immense clout for generations. But he ruled it out.
"I am not Chief Ministerial candidate. I am not ambitious, just like my father," he said, referring to his father Madhavrao Scindia, a senior Congress leader who was killed in a private plane crash in 2001.
Mr Scindia, who was Rahul Gandhi's choice to lead the campaign of the faction-ridden Congress in Madhya Pradesh, also insisted that his party was going to the polls with unprecedented unity, which was missing in previous polls.
He also said it was 'unfair' to hold Rahul Gandhi responsible for the outcome of the polls.
The Congress is fighting to stage a comeback in the state it lost a decade ago to the BJP. Mr Scindia says his main target is not Mr Modi but Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is aiming for a third straight term.
"Mr Modi is not a factor at all. We want him to come here as he will sink the BJP's chances," Mr Scindia told NDTV, calling the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate a "good omen" for his party.
"We will win this time. I see the people's expectations from us," Mr Scindia said, pointing out that Mr Modi was the BJP's in-charge of polls in Madhya Pradesh in 1998 that saw the Congress coming to power.
The 42-year-old politician had earlier said that wherever Mr Modi has gone into the assembly polls, the Congress has come to power. He cited Karnataka, Himachal and Uttarakhand.
Mr Scindia, a union minister and the MP from Guna, is widely seen as a candidate for Chief Minister if the Congress returns to power in the state where the Scindia royal family has enjoyed immense clout for generations. But he ruled it out.
"I am not Chief Ministerial candidate. I am not ambitious, just like my father," he said, referring to his father Madhavrao Scindia, a senior Congress leader who was killed in a private plane crash in 2001.
Mr Scindia, who was Rahul Gandhi's choice to lead the campaign of the faction-ridden Congress in Madhya Pradesh, also insisted that his party was going to the polls with unprecedented unity, which was missing in previous polls.
He also said it was 'unfair' to hold Rahul Gandhi responsible for the outcome of the polls.
The Congress is fighting to stage a comeback in the state it lost a decade ago to the BJP. Mr Scindia says his main target is not Mr Modi but Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is aiming for a third straight term.
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