Ready to follow Jyotiraditya Scindia if he leaves party, says Congress MLA

Pohari MLA Suresh Rathkheda on Wednesday caused a flutter by claiming that he would be the first to follow party MP Jyotiraditya Scindia if he decides to leave Congress and form his own party.

"First of all, I do not think Srimant Maharaj Saheb (Jyotiraditya Scindia, who hails from a royal family) will leave Congress because I do not think he will ever join another party. He can start his own party, such is his strength in Madhya Pradesh. And if he does so, I will be the first one to follow him. For me, he comes first as I am thankful to him for whatever I have become today," Mr Rathkheda told reporters here.

Mr Rathkheda's comments have come at a time when the social media and political circles have remained abuzz with claims of Mr Scindia leaving Congress.

The stalwart had on Monday, however, dismissed speculations about him leaving the party after he changed his Twitter bio.

"Ridiculous commotion over a twitter profile change done almost a month ago!" Mr Scindia tweeted from his official handle.

"A month back, I had changed my bio on Twitter. On people's advice, I had made my bio shorter. Rumours regarding this are baseless," Mr Scindia told news agency ANI.

The 48-year-old leader removed the party's name and the post he held earlier and his new Twitter bio only mentioned ''public servant and cricket enthusiast," fuelling speculations that he could quit the party.

Notably, Mr Scindia had also backed the Centre's decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, taking a stand in contrast to that of his party's.

Last month, Mr Scindia said that Congress needs to self-introspect, echoing the sentiments of his fellow Congressman Salman Khurshid who had expressed concerns about the party's future.

-ANI

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