Writing was on the wall: Why Scindia decided to quit the Congress

New Delhi Mar 10: The verdict is out and Jyotiraditya Scindia has resigned from the Congress. Meanwhile 19 MLAs of the Madhya Pradesh Congress have sent their resignations by email to the Speaker of the House.

Scindia, according to sources was feeling sidelined and also found the leadership un-inspiring. His has expressed clearly his feelings in the letter. He says, "while my aim and purpose remains the same as it has always been from the very beginning. to serve the people of my state and country, I believe I am unable to do this anymore with this party."

Further reports say that the Congress had planned to defeat him in the Rajya Sabha elections and this was the last straw.

After securing 114 seats, the Congress came to power in 2018. The House has 230 members. However the current strength has been reduced to 228. The Congress had gone on to form the government with the support of 121 MLAs, which included four independents, 2 BSP and 1 SP MLA.

Meanwhile the Congress continued to make efforts to woo Scindia back. However as of now, it appears as though Scindia has not relented.

If the 17 MLAs stick to their decision then the strength of the Congress would come down to 104. In the 228 member House, a party needs 115 seats.

The BJP on the other hand has 107 MLAs. It needs 8 more MLAs to hit the majority mark. If the rebels extend support to the BJP, then the party will have 124 MLAs.