Jyotiraditya Scindia: Ex-Congress bigwig takes oath as minister in Modi 3.0

Jyotiraditya Scindia, elected from Guna in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, took the oath as Union Minister in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governmenton Sunday (Jun 9).

"I have full faith that our government, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, will achieve the goals related to the development of the country with full dedication with the resolve of "Developed India" and will live up to the hopes and aspirations of 140 crore Indians," he said on X after PM Modi's oath.

Scindia, who is from the Scindia family, the former royal family of Gwalior, was born on January 1, 1971, in Mumbai. His father Madhavrao Scindia was a prominent politician in the Indian National Congress (INC) party.

Jyotiraditya Scindia entered politics after the death of his father in a plane crash in 2001. He emerged as a popular politician from the Hindi heartland. Scindia contested as a member of the Congress party and won the by-election from his father's constituency Guna in Madhya Pradesh, as a member of the Indian National Congress (INC).

In Congress, he held various positions, including being a member of the Parliament for multiple terms and serving as Minister of State for Power and later for Commerce and Industry in the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government.

He represented the Guna constituency from 2002 until his shocking defeat in 2019. Many believed he didn't contest wholeheartedly and in a major turn of events, he left Congress citing disgruntlement with the INC leadership and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in March 2020.

The move turned out to be significant for the BJP as it came during a political crisis in Madhya Pradesh state. His move led to the fall of the Congress government in the state, with BJP taking power. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh, becoming Minister of Civil Aviation in the Modi government in July 2021.

He was designated PM Modi's special envoy in February 2022 to Romania to manage the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine as a result of Russia's escalating invasion. He managed the evacuation of students and Indian professionals from Bucharest and Suceava as part of Operation Ganga.

(With inputs from agencies)