 On 18 December, he formally joined the Indian National Congress party and pledged to uphold the "secular, liberal and social justice values" of his father.On 19 January 2002, Scindia filed his nomination paper to contest the upcoming by-election from Guna constituency.On 24 February, he won the election and defeated his nearest rival, Desh Raj Singh Yadav of the Bharatiya Janata Party by a margin of approximately 450,000 votes.