Last year, when Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he did not just bring the state of Madhya Pradesh - having helped to topple the Kamal Nath-led government in the state, as an oblation for his new bosses. He also had a whole host of other credentials guaranteed, or so it appeared, to ensure success.
He was a four-time Lok Sabha MP, with stints as a central minister, and chief whip (of the Congress parliamentary party). He has two well-established aunts in the BJP – Vasundhara Raje and Yashodhara Raje.
His grandmother, Vijayeraje Scindia, was one of the founders of the BJP, and once even a senior functionary in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Add to that the hauteur of a Maharaja with enviable educational qualifications – Doon School, St Stephen’s College, Harvard, culminating in an MBA from Stanford.
Few people in the BJP could match that CV in the BJP, you would say.