Vijay Mallya Adds to Confusion in Congress CM Race With a One-Line Tweet to 'Young Champions'

New Delhi: Fugitive tycoon Vijay Mallya on Thursday added to the confusion in the race for the chief minister post in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh with a congratulatory tweet.

In his one-line tweet, Mallya, who is still sitting in London, offered his “many congratulations” to “young champions” Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot and tagged them as well. It led to speculation on whether he was privy to details on who the Congress high command would pick as the CM in the two Hindi Heartland states.

Both Scindia and Pilot are up against veteran leaders – Kamal Nath and Ashok Gehlot – who are said to be the frontrunners for the top posts in their respective states.

All four are on their way to Delhi right now as the internal competition takes the shape of possible factionalism. The state units had passed a resolution on Wednesday, saying Rahul Gandhi would make the final decision.

With two prominent candidates for one post in each state, the Congress could be preparing to give one leader the rare post of the Deputy Chief Minister, sources have told News18. The Congress have installed a Deputy CM in Rajasthan only once in the past when Kamla Beniwal took charge of the post in 1998 under Ashok Gehlot’s leadership.

Mallya, a former MP who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha with the help of Congress among other parties, may have also been referring to Scindia and Pilot bagging the No. 2 job in their respective states.

His tweet led to snarky replies on Twitter, with most telling him to congratulate the two “young champions” in person once he returns to India. A UK court had on Monday ruled that Mallya will be extradited to India, giving the beleaguered businessman 14 days to appeal against the verdict.