Jayanthi Natarajan: The writing was on the wall

The Jayanthi Natarajan issue is making headlines today. Her decision to quit the Congress after making a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi was very much on expected lines and the tension between the two leaders was visible since last year when she was dumped as the environmental minister in the UPA-II government.

The decision to dump her as minister was quite a shocker for many and several persons had even said that she had been made a scapegoat.

Rahul Gandhi was behind her exit

When she was removed as the environmental minister it was said that Rahul Gandhi was behind it. He had made open remarks about the negativity of the environmental ministry. Not only did he stop at pointing out the negativity, but also went a step further to ridicule her in public.

Further what hurt Jayanthi Natarajan even more was that Rahul Gandhi had given the then opposition BJP to attack her more. In addition to this the BJP which had been making remarks against her and the functioning of her ministry had got support indirectly by the statements made by Rahul Gandhi.

Jayanthi felt very let down

She had after being asked to step down, brushed aside all talk about a tussle within the party. However ever since that incident there was a lot of bad blood between her and Rahul Gandhi which was never rectified.

Fearing that she may revolt openly against the party, they had even assured her of a better position in the party. However that never came along.

In closed circles, Jayanthi Natarajan always told her aides that she had been made a scapegoat. All decisions taken by the environmental ministry were done with the full consent of the cabinet and also the Prime Minister.

Rahul's bad set of advisors

In a hushed tone many in the Congress still complain that Rahul Gandhi is surrounded by a bad set of advisors. They are vindictive and do not think beyond.

The case of Jayanthi Natarajan is also similar. As an environmental minister she had decided to implement several projects in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Goa. These were perceived as bad decisions by Rahul Gandhi and his advisors had told him that such projects would indirectly help the BJP.

Rahul Gandhi was swayed by what his advisors had told him and decided to target Jayanthi Natarajan which ultimately cost her the post of environmental ministry.

Speaking to Sonia Gandhi at that point in time was not of much help either. Sonia would not look beyond her son but also tried to strike a balance and urged her to stay on with a promise of a better posting within the party. However here too Rahul had the last word and ensured that she was kept out of the picture as though she was a nobody in the party.

Jayanthi was a trusted soldier

When it came to Jayanthi Natarajan she will be remembered in the Congress at least by the senior lot of leaders as a trusted soldier. Quick to jump to every decision of the Congress, she had made her place in the party right from the days of Rajiv Gandhi.

Many persons close to her tell OneIndia that she would have been the last person to go against the party. Her decisions as a minister were in the right direction, but thanks to some bad advise that she was trying to help the BJP was sufficient for Rahul Gandhi to go all out against her, her close confidantes also say.