With the country entering into the home stretch to elect a new government in the country and to a few states this summer, the political landscape is undergoing a change. Call it a season of migration, as reports surface frequently from various parts of the country indicating movement of leaders across the divide.
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Over the past few weeks, a perception is gaining ground that seasoned political leaders having long association with the Indian National Congress, the Grand Old Party of the country, are crossing over to join the Bharatiya Janata Party or its allies.
The last such switch that created a sensation was the entry of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan into the BJP. The Maratha leader’s exit from the Congress was a setback as he was in the thick of things drawing plans for the general elections. For his decision, Chavan was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat.
Earlier this year, the news of former Union Minister and Congress youth leader Milind Deora decision to join the Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena demonstrated that political leaders were sensing which way the wind was blowing. Belonging to a dyed-in-wool Congress family, Deora gathered a return favour in the form of a Rajya Sabha nomination.
Around the same time, another former Union Minister in the UPA Government, RPN Singh too secured a Rajya Sabha nomination from Uttar Pradesh. Son of Congress leader and Minister CPN Singh, RPN as he is known, was accommodated by the BJP two years after he switched sides.
In fact, when Deora moved away from the Congress, a picture went viral on social media showing four of the five Next Gen leaders from the Congress —Jyotiradiya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, and RPN crossed over. In that huddle, only Sachin Pilot remains with the GOP.
The saga or continuous flow of leaders from the Congress towards the BJP took another interesting twist amid swirling unconfirmed reports of veteran party leader Kamal Nath and Manish Tewari entertaining similar thoughts . Now, memes and smart comments across the same medium are looking at these developments as a BJP promise of ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ (Congress Free India) by inducting leaders from its biggest pan-India challenger.
What does the shift in political allegiance indicate?
Are these leaders attracted towards the BJP sensing certainty of the party retaining its right to govern the country? Do they read the electorate’s mind of favouring the promises and delivery offered by the BJP leadership? What about the ideological component in accepting the BJP and rejecting the Congress ? Or is it a case of undiluted politics garnished with the lure of office?
The phenomena of leaders and their dedicated band of followers, switching camps in the run up to elections is a regular occurrence These developments cannot be characterised as any one of the above. At best, it can be surmised that these leaders seeped into politics and evaluated the situation pragmatically.
Most of the leaders who shifted from the Congress during the last few months charged the existing set-up did not offer hope. The manner in which affairs of the party is run, they suggested, showed the party was not the same as it was. Now among the four young leaders who moved over to the Congress, all were considered part of Rahul Gandhi’s team and under the presidency of Sonia Gandhi. This has changed. Although Mallikarjun Kharge is now the president and Rahul Gandhi no longer the party chief, there is a strong feeling that nothing can happen in the GOP without Rahul Gandhi’s sanction.
The phenomena of leaders and their dedicated band of followers, switching camps in the run up to elections is a regular occurrence. The reasons can be any or a combination of the following.
One, it could be denial of a party nomination, especially in case of a sitting legislator/parliamentarian. Two, the leader feels either ignored or sidelined by the existing apparatus which controls the party. Three, the ground conditions in the constituency is such that the existing party platform becomes a drag. Four, the party the leader decides to switch to offers the best opportunity to become a peoples’ representative either now or in due course. Five, the leader feels suffocated, finding dilution in or drift away from party core ideology. Finally, the cold calculation — what’s in it for me.
The rash of party hopping for any reason is certainly bad optics for the Congress. On the one hand, Rahul Gandhi appears unfazed by the depletion of party ranks and continues to soldier on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, while Congress president Kharge is struggling to salvage the situation in the I.N.D.I Alliance. Contrast this to the confidence exuded by the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at its two-day national convention, the contest appears unequal. Wait for the people to speak and give a verdict, which is not done till it is done.
(Edited by : C H Unnikrishnan)
First Published: Feb 20, 2024 9:33 AM IST
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