REPORT

Jyotiraditya Scindia Joins Congress Party

The Congress president, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, patting Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia, on his joining the party in New Delhi. Looking on are (from Left) Mr. Arju Singh, Mr. Bhanu Pratap Singh, Mr. Motilal Vohra, Mr. R.K. Malviya, Mr. S.C. Shukla and Mr. Digvijay Singh.

NEW DELHI : Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia formally joined the Congress party on 17 December and was greeted by senior party leaders among the hundreds of supporters who thronged the AICC headquarters at the 24 Akbar Road here.

Contingents from Madhya Pradesh that included more than a dozen MLAs lustily cheered Mr. Scindia.

AICC general secretary, Ms. Mohsina Kidwai, made a formal announcement of Mr. Scindia’s admission into the party at a brief public meeting in the sprawling lawns of the AICC.

He was bestowed a rare honour by the Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, who personally endorsed his admission papers at her 10, Janpath residence both as a primary and active member of the party.

The induction ceremony was attended at Ms. Gandhi’s residence by top Madhya Pradesh party leaders such as Mr. Arjun Singh, the Chief Minister, Mr. Digvijay Singh, Mr. Kamal Nath, Mr. Bhanu Pratap Singh, the State Congress chief, Mr. RK Malviya, the AICC treasurer, Mr. Motilal Vora, and the former Chief Minister and MP, Mr. Shyama Charan Shukla.

PMC Merges with Congress Pondicherry: The Poducherry Makkal Congress (PMC) has merged with the Indian National Congress on 31 October. Addressing a press conference here, PMC founder and former home minister P Kannan said the decision to merge his party with the Congress was endorsed at the general body meeting of the PMC. He said he had already talked to the AICC president, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, in this regard when he met her in New Delhi a fortnight ago, following a call from AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad that all ‘national-minded’ people should join the Congress.

Welcoming him into the party, Ms. Kidwai recalled the contribution of Madhavrao Scindia and said his sudden departure had left a void and several tasks midway, which she hoped, the young man would carry forward.

A product of Doon School, Mr. Scindia graduated from the Harvard University in 1993 and did his MBA from the Standford University.

Thanking Mrs. Gandhi for being "a pillar of strength" to him and his family during the last two-and-a-half months when his father was snatched away by the cruel hands of destiny in an aircrash, Mr. Scindia said he hoped to be able to live up to the trust she had reposed in him.

On his future plans such as contesting elections from Guna Lok Sabha constituency of his father or being a Youth Congress leader, he said it was left to the party to decide.

Among those present at the AICC, included the two Chief Ministers, Mr. Digvijay Singh from Madhya Pradesh and Ms. Sheila Dikshit from Delhi, the CWC members, Mr. Arjun Singh, Mr. Motilal Vora, Mr. K. Natwar Singh; Mr. Malviya, the Rajya Sabha MP, Mr. Suresh Pachouri, the Maharashtra State Minister, Mr. Kripa Shanker Singh, and Mr. Murli Deora.