Did `royal' link connect Scindia to top BJP leaders

    Bhopal, Mar 10 (PTI) It was Shubhangini Raje Gaekwad,
member of the former royal family of Baroda, who apparently
became the bridge between the top BJP leadership and
Jyotiraditya Scindia in the run-up to his exit from the
Congress, sources said on Tuesday.
    Scindia's wife Priyadarshni comes from the Gaekwad
family.
    On Tuesday, Scindia announced that he had resigned
from the Congress amid a flurry of resignations by party MLAs
and ministers belonging to his camp in Madhya Pradesh,
bringing the Kamal Nath government to the brink of collapse.
    Sources close to Scindia family, former royals of
Gwalior, said after he was `cold shouldered' by Congress
president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, Jyotiraditya began
to explore his options beyond the party.
    "Jyotiraditya's wife Priyadarshni belongs to the
Gaekwad royal family. And Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a
lot of respect for the Baroda Maharani (Shubhangini Raje),"
sources said.
    Shubhangini Raje had acted as a proposer when Modi
filed nomination for the Lok Sabha polls from Vadodara
(formerly Baroda) in 2014.
    She facilitated communication between Scindia and the
prime minister, sources claimed.
    Speculation is rife that Scindia, a former Union
minister, would join the BJP.
    Scindia had tried to meet Sonia Gandhi on Sunday but
the Congress president did not meet him, sources claimed.
    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too could not provide any
solace to Scindia who was locked in a turf battle with Madhya
Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, the sources added. PTI LAL
MAS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)