'He might have felt suffocated', says Gwalior Cong Prez Sharma after Scindia quit party

Reacting to Jyotiraditya Scindia's resignation from the primary membership of the Congress party, Gwalior district Congress President Devendra Sharma on Tuesday stated that Scindia might have felt 'suffocated' while being in the party. 'Scindia's decision to leave the Congress was his decision as he might have felt suffocated in the party,' Sharma said while interacting with a news agency. 

"However, I have been a member of the Congress party for almost all my life and hence I am very attached to it," he said.

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Scindia resigns

Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday morning shared a photograph of the resignation letter sent to party chief Sonia Gandhi.  In his letter, Scindia mentioned that his dissatisfaction had built up in the past one year. He wrote to Sonia, "As you well know, this path that has been drawing itself out over the last year." 

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Congress expels Scindia

After Jyotiraditya Scindia made his resignation public, KC Venugopal notified that Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi approved the 'expulsion' of now-former Congress leader. On Tuesday noon, KC Venugopal said that Sonia Gandhi approved Scindia's resignation with immediate effect for "anti-party activities".

The bitter "expulsion" of Scindia by the Congress party comes after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter's residence along with former BJP party chief Amit Shah. After the meeting, Shah and Scindia left together, with the miffed Congress leader leaving behind the Range Rover he had driven into 7LKM.

READ | Congress still confident there's 'no threat to Kamal Nath govt' despite 20 MLAs resigning

Madhya Pradesh political crisis

Tuesday's developments come at a time when the Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government appears to be on the brink, with the resignations of at least 22 MLAs posing a fatal threat to the maintainability of the Congress government. Kamal Nath's entire cabinet resigned on Monday evening in an apparent effort to create space for a rejig to placate the rebel camp.

The Congress high-command had also attempted desperate overtures to Jyotiraditya Scindia, offering to meet his demands, whether they be a Rajya Sabha seat or the post of Madhya Pradesh Congress chief. However, following his resignation, the Congress claimed that he had been 'expelled' and quoted party chief Sonia Gandhi in its statement. As per sources, Scindia's dissatisfaction had taken a firm shape over a month ago.

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(With inputs from ANI)