Rising above party politics aunt Vasundhara hugs nephew Jyotiraditya

December 17: Politics is not always an act of conspiracy, treachery and jealousy. The oath ceremony in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh presented a glimpse of rare courtesy and grace in politics. Outgoing BJP chief ministers Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan and Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh turned up at the swearing-in ceremonies of Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath, and exchanged greetings with opposition leaders. The show of political civility wasn’t restricted to Madhya Pradesh alone. In Rajasthan too, Vasundhara Raje attended Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot’s swearing in at Jaipur.

At the Rajasthan oath taking ceremony, outgoing Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of the BJP was seen warmly greeting her nephew Jyotiraditya Scindia, a top Congress leader, setting aside their vast political divide. Vasundhara Raje is the sister of Jyotiraditya Scindia’s father Madhavrao Scindia, who died in a plane crash in 2001. She was seen in a widely-circulated photo wrapping Jyotiraditya Scindia into a hug on the stage at the Albert Hall in Jaipur, her eyes closed with affection. Political affiliations have split the Scindias, a royal family from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. However, the photo of the day was indeed the affectionate hug of an aunt and her nephew.

Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot took oath as the Rajasthan chief minister on Monday while state party chief Sachin Pilot was appointed as his deputy in a ceremony that turned into a show of strength for Opposition unity. Governor Kalyan Singh administered the oath of office to Gehlot at the historic Albert Hall here. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav were also present.

Gehlot has become the fourth leader to hold the chief minister’s post for the third time. The Congress leader became the chief minister for the first time in 1998 and held the post again in 2008. Last week, the Congress posted its best electoral performance since the 2014 general elections. It snatched Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh from the BJP. While the party swept Chhattisgarh, it just made the majority mark in Rajasthan and fell short by a whisker in Madhya Pradesh. The BSP and Samajwadi Party offered to fill the gap to keep out the BJP, which was not far behind.