Media hoopla apart, increasingly the BJP is looking at a party of well-ensconsced turncoats. As each state election draws near, the high optic drama of some or several legislators, corporators or members of parliament crossing have now, become painfully familiar. Though many or most of the desertions have been from the Congress party, a few have been from the NCP, Janata Dal and Biju Janata Dal as well.
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With the drama surrounding the latest defections, including that of former union textiles minister, Shankasinh Vaghela apart, the ruling party at the Centre, headed by the duo of Modi and Shah, who gather laurels from fawning commentators for their ‘mastery’ and ‘strategising’, what is often lost sight of is the monetary and other temptations that such shifts represent.
Yesterday’s (August 8) Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat expose how, the ruling party is basing its strength –not on programmes, policies or even ideology – but on emasculating the opposition. By hook or by crook. Today the Congress has been reduced to 44 MLAs in the state, and just before the 2017 state election, this spate of defections has further weakened the party.
The strategy, in Gujarat, as elsewhere, is to achieve high octane electoral victories –Shah has promised his fawning supporters 151 seats out of 182!—not necessary on political merit or delivery of poll promises but through aggressive poaching on ‘winnable’ candidates. To achieve its tall target of winning 151 of the 182 assembly seats in the 2017 elections, the state BJP, on instructions from Delhi, has started poaching low profile but locally powerful MLAs or district leaders who the Congress is considering for tickets. Ahead of the 2012 assembly elections and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP poached lots of individually-strong Congress leaders. Six of the sitting BJP MPs joined BJP before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Vitthal Radadiya, Poonam Madam, Devusinh Chauhan, Devij Fathepara, Lalisinh Vadodiya, Prabhu Vasava joined BJP from Congress.
At the height of its power, the Congress too, was willing to offer tickets to anybody who had money and fitted easily into local caste equations. This served the party when the going was good but when the going got tough, many of these “leaders” were found wanting as they did not have the ground experience of rebuilding a party and mounting a strong but responsible opposition. As electoral success becomes increasingly more important than ideology, the BJP is also following suit and, increasingly recruiting lifetime members of other parties. Several entrants from saffron outfits do not find it difficult today to march back towards the winner!
In Delhi Municipal Corporation, elections too, it was the same story. After Arvinder Singh Lovely, 10 more Congress leaders had joined BJP on the eve of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections. In March 2017, the BJP grabbed headlines with former Congress leader and Karnataka CM SM Krishna joining the BJP.
Odisha
In Odisha too the pattern was similar. In June 2017, several BJD and Congress leaders ditched their parties for the BJP today joining the saffron party in presence of Union Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Odisha BJP president Basant Panda and other senior party leaders here at the state headquarters. Well known Sukinda BJD leader Pradeep Bal Samant alias Tutu Bal, who had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election in 2014, joined BJP along with his supporters.
Congress leaders reached the local party office in grand procession and formally wore the saffron cap as a symbol of BJP. Nayagarh district Congress chief Lala Manoj Ray, who quit his post yesterday, was one among others to shake hands with saffron leaders. Similarly, three other leaders of the grand old party in Keonjhar district-former MLA Dhanurjay Siddhu, PCC secretary (organisation) Prithivraj Kuanar, well known leader of Patana Satyaban Nayak- acquired the primary membership of BJP along with hundreds of supporters.
Maharashtra
This year began with NCP and Congress defectors joining the BJP in Maharahtra. A spate of resignations and defections across the civic bodies in Pune and Solapur has put the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress on the back foot and has strengthened the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena. Three sitting corporators from the Sena — Seema Savale, Asha Shendge and Sangeeta Bhondwe — and two from the NCP — Balasaheb Taras and Maya Barne — have stepped down from their posts in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).All five are expected to enter the BJP, which already has senior NCP leaders like Mahesh Landge and Azam Pansareby, who joined its fold in the PCMC area earlier.
The BJP had secured just three seats in the 2012 PCMC polls, as opposed to the NCP, which secured 83 seats. Now, after poaching on the rival politicians of parties, it plans to turn defeat into victory, by fair means or foul.
Like the NCP in Pune, the Congress was similarly cornered in Solapur. Seven of its corporators from the Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC) announced their decision (January 2017) to enter the Shiv Sena. The corporators are reportedly close to the Sena’s Solapur in-charge, Mahesh Kothe, who is a former Congressman and a confidante of the district’s Congress stalwart Sushilkumar Shinde. Mr. Kothe had joined the Sena before the 2014 Assembly polls. He had fought against Mr. Shinde’s daughter Praniti for the Solapur City Central segment, which the latter won by a margin of 9,000 votes. The Congress had bagged 45 of the 102 seats in the 2012 civic polls, becoming the single-largest party in the SMC. Now this political dominance stands threatened.
April 2017: 50 Congress, other parties’ leaders join BJP ahead of Himachal Pradesh polls
Various leaders from Congress and other parties have reportedly joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the eve of Modi’s visit to the state in April this year. BJP State chief Satpal Singh Satti welcomed all these leaders who will now work to hold the saffron banner aloft, according to News18. Various prominent leaders from Shimla Nagar Nigam including former Mayor Madhu Sood, president of Kaushal Federation Brij Lal, former councilor Kamaljit Singh and Sanjay Sharma, Treasurer of Shimla Board of Trade Nitin Sohail, former District Council member Girdhaari Lal and others have joined forces with the saffron party.
Uttar Pradesh 2016-2017- Over 25 Congress leaders join BJP
Rita Bahuguna Joshi, a prominent Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh, prefaced her entry into the BJP today with a fierce attack on Rahul Gandhi, alleging that his leadership was acceptable to none.
More than 25 Congress leaders, including former state secretary Mamta Gurung, Congress youth president for Dehradun Ishant Ksehtri, former Principal of GIC, Guniyalgaun, Gunanand Uniyal and young leader Rajeev Kumar joined the BJP in the presence of state BJP president Ajay Bhatt, Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi and former Cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat, along with their supporters, at a programme held at Johari village today.
Addressing the gathering, Ajay Bhatt said due to the policies of the BJP, a retired principal, a person who assisted many students to become IAS, PCS, IPS officers, had shown his keenness in joining the BJP. He said a senior Congress leader and a youth leader had joined the party indicating the popularity of the BJP. He praised MLA Ganesh Joshi for his dedication for development of his constituency.
BJP Mussoorie constituency convener Niranjan Dobhal, BDC member Sandhya Thapa and Pramila Devi, Bharti Jwadi, Jyoti Kotiya, Geeta Devi, Vandana Bisht, Ramu Khatri, Nirmala Thapa, Deepak Pundeer, Sundar Kothal, Anurag Singh, Sandya Kshetri, Prabha Shah and hundreds of others were also present on the occasion.
Uttar Pradesh: Six MLAs from Congress, BSP, SP join BJP
Six MLAs, including three from Congress, two from BSP and one from ruling SP, on Thursday joined BJP with their supporters in presence of party state president Keshav Prasad Maurya.They were Congress’ Sanjay Pratap Jaiswal, Vijay Kumar Dubey and Madhuri Verma, BSP’s Rajesh Tripathi and Bala Prasad Awasthi and SP’s Sher Bahadur.
It all began in 2014
The landslide Modi victory of the May 2014 Lok Sabha elections witnessed several political leaders defecting from one party to another, with only some of them who joined the BJP actually tasting electoral success. Even before that, in March 2014 there were many Congress leaders from Gujarat who switched over. In 2016-2017 in the run up to the politically significant UP polls, there were dozens of such shifts from the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party to the BJP.
Among the big defectors who could grab a seat in the 16th Lok Sabha include Rao Indrajit Singh, Om Prakash Yadav, Sushil Kumar Singh, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Jagdambika Pal, Dharamvir Singh, Ajay Nishad, Santosh Kumar, Mehboob Ali Kaiser, Ashok Kumar Dohare, Vidyut Baran Mahato, Col Sonaram Choudhary, Ram Kripal Yadav, and Heena Gavit. In Uttar Pradesh, which is considered crucial for any political party’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections. So was it their vote base that won them the seat, combined with the gloss of power and bounty or the charisma of Shah and Modi?
Not that it was only the BJP who attracted political turncoats but it certainly headed the list. In Bihar, in 2014, the BJP had allowed seats to nine outside candidates on the 30 seats it contested from Bihar, of which five registered a win.
Gujarat
Despite the slogan of ‘Congress mukt’ Bharat, in Modi’s home state, the duo accommodated so many from the grand old party. That was in 2014. Of the BJP candidates in the fray for 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state, around 11 are former Congress leaders who joined the BJP just then! Similarly, in four of the seven assembly seats where by-elections are being held, the BJP has fielded Congress deserters who joined the party in March 2014. Public memory is short but given the recent drama around the Rajya Sabha elections, it’s important to recall that Congress turncoats have not only been welcomed into the BJP with open arms but given tickets in preference to the saffron party’s own leaders. This has caused much heartburn within the BJP with long-time party workers questioning the wisdom of giving tickets to Congress deserters. In 2012, Modi had welcomed Narhari Amin into his party, the man rose to become deputy chif minister.
Gujarat has seen a long line of such defections in which Shankarsinh Vaghela is only among the last. Long back, Congress faithful and Seva Dal till 1985, Liladhar Vaghela joined the Janata Dal thereafter where he remained till 1995. Since 1995 this former socialist has been with the saffron combine. Ramsinh Rathwa from Chhotaudaipur was in years gone by a Youth Congress leader also coming into the Rajya Sabha in 1985 to 1997. He lost Lok Sabha polls on BJP ticket in 2000 and 2004 but won in 2009 against Congress’ Naran Rathwa. Prabhu Vasava, a two-time Congress MLA from Mandvi. In the 2014 LS election, he was the BJP candidate from Bardoli against Union minister Tushar Chaudhary. Vasava, who joined BJP in February this year, got the ticket without any trouble. His father Nagar Vasava was a five-term Congress MLA.
In 2004, K C Patel from Valsad, earlier with the Congress since 1999, joined the BJP.Poonam Madam from Jamnagar, daughter of a veteran Ahir community leader and former Independent MLA late Hemant Madam, Poonam was general secretary of Youth Congress and Women’s Congress till late 2012 when she joined BJP and was elected Khambhaliya MLA. BJP has fielded her against her uncle, sitting Congress MP Vikram Madam. Then, Kirit Solanki, close aide of Congress leader Narsinh Makwana and Manubhai Parmar till 1995 when he joined the BJP. In 2009, he got BJP ticket for Lok Sabha elections and now represents the seat. Congress MLA till 2012 from Halvad, Gujarat, Devji Fatepura contested on a Congress ticket from Chotila but lost. He then joined the BJP in early 2014. Vinod Chavda from Kutch was poached by Modi into the BJP in 2014.
Assam
In Assam, an ambitious Congressman, Himant Biswa Sarma, was easily and readily welcomed to the BJP from the Congress. In Jharkhand, six JVM (P) MLAs joined the BJP earlier in 2014.. Just before the Lok Sabha elections, a galaxy of Congress “leaders” moved to the BJP – Satpal Maharaj, Purandeswari, Rajen Chavda and Chaudhary Birendra Singh. Many others joined the BJP later.
Former minister in the NDA I cabinet, Arun Shourie had famously described the BJP under Modi as “Congress plus the Cow.”
The major difference between the BJP and Congress has been the significant presence of RSS folks in the BJP. The training in the RSS is on a purpose larger than the self. The Congress was perhaps the same in the first 30 years when a large proportion of its workers were from the freedom movement.
However, over time, the sourcing in the Congress changed from freedom fighters to power seekers which in turn led to severe dissidence and power struggles. When the party lost power, the internal decay completely destroyed the party in many states preventing it from ever returning to power there. With increasing recruitment from parties with such cultures, the BJP is causing a long-term damage that may not be apparent today when the party is on a high.
Madhya Pradesh
Two months before the LOk Sabha polls of 2014, Congress MLA Sanjay Pathak, who quit the party alleging ill-treatment, today formally joined the BJP in the presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.Before joining BJP, Pathak resigned from Congress and his membership in the State Assembly. He was accused of joining BJP to protect his mining business. Besides Pathak, another Congress leader Rajendra Singh Gehlot also joined BJP on the occasion.
Some other Congress leaders who left the party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014 are –
Satpal Maharaj – The senior Congress leader who has huge following in hilly area (Uttarakhand) in 2014 resigned from the Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is a sitting member of parliament from the Pauri Lok Sabha constituency in Uttarakhand. Maharaj was really angry when he was bypassed to make Harish Rawat a chief minister. Even the Congress high command refused to accept his list of candidates in the Garhwal region.
Jasa Barad – He was the sitting MLA from Somnath constituency of Junagadh district. He left the Congress to join BJP. After joining BJP he said that Congress at present is in dormant state and India and BJP will surely grow under the leadership of Narendra Modi. Barad is also a president of the Gujarat Rajput Samaj. But before joining Congress he was associated with BJP. Earlier he left BJP in 1995 with Shankersinh Vaghela who afterward formed his own party known Rashtriya Janata Party. The party later merged with Congress.
D. Purandeswari – A former Union minister and daughter of famous actor-politician NTR quits Congress to join BJP. She left Congress over Telangana issue. She was unhappy the way the state has been bifurcated.
Jagdambika Pal – He was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for one day and now a part of BJP cadre. He wants to contest from Domariyaganj. It is the same constituency from which he won the seat when in Congress. He cited communication gap between new and old generation political leaders of the Congress party as his reason of leaving party.
Bavku Undhad – Congress MLA from Lathi assembly constituency of Amreli district who left Congress to join BJP. He said that he had no grievance with anyone in the Congress. He has joined BJP to fulfill the demand of people to see Narendra Modi as the next PM. Nearabout 80 supporters have joined BJP with him.
Rajendrasinh Chavda – Congress MLA from Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha district. The only reason he cited for his resignation from Congress is that he want to see Narendra Modi as a PM of the country. He said that Congress at present has nothing. Chavda moved to BJP with 1,500 party workers.
Suresh Kotadia, a son of former Union minister Manu Kotadia along with 80 Congress leaders left Congress and joined BJP. Kotadia called Congress a vision-less. Also the leaders of the party are involved in internal fights. Moreover the state is growing under the excellent leadership of Narendra Modi.Vitthal Radadia and his son Jayesh Radadia resigned Congress to join BJP.
Other leaders who have quit the party after the election results were declared in May 2014.
1) G.K. Vasan : Former Union minister for shipping and son of late Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) leader G.K. Moopanar, Vasan quit the party in November. Soon after leaving the Congress, he floated a new regional party called the “Desiya Tamil Maanila Congress”.
2) Krishna Tirath:In a major jolt to the Congress ahead of the then upcoming Delhi elections in January 2015, another former Union minister and the party’s Dalit face in Delhi, Tirath, joined the BJP last week. Tirath switched sides citing lack of “discipline” within the Congress. Tirath, a former Lok Sabha member from Karol Bagh, then contested assembly elections on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from West Delhi’s Patel Nagar constituency.
3) Chaudhary Birender Singh: Soon after the Narendra Modi-led BJP swept to power at the Centre, the Congress saw a raft of defections, including some of its prominent leaders from states which were due to go to polls in 2014. Among them was a senior leader from Haryana, Singh. Singh quit as part of growing dissension within the state unit against then Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Immediately after switching sides, Singh was rewarded with a cabinet berth. He is currently the Union minister for rural development and panchayati raj.
4) Datta Meghe : Ahead of assembly polls in Maharashtra (September 2014), industrialist and educationist Meghe quit the Congress to join the BJP. A prominent leader from Wardha (Vidarbha region), Meghe was a former Lok Sabha MP from Wardha. Besides, he was also elected to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra in 2002.
5) Jagmeet Singh Brar: One of its senior leaders from Punjab, Brar, a former Congress Working Committee (CWC) member from Punjab, quit the party in 2-14. After its dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections last year, Brar reacted suggesting that both Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul must do some introspection for the result. Brar was suspended by the party following his statements. He quit citing “humiliation”.
6) Avtar Singh Bhadana: Another prominent former Congress leader and four-time MP, Bhadana quit the Congress ahead of assembly polls in Haryana. He quit the party after launching a scathing attack on Hooda and the central leadership. Having contested as a Congress candidate in the Lok Sabha polls, Bhadana lost from Faridabad. A prominent Gujjar leader, Bhadana subsequently joined the Om Prakash Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal in August last year.
7) Ranjit Deshmukh: In October last year, former president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), Deshmukh quit the party ahead of assembly elections in the state. Deshmukh, while in the Congress, was one of most senior leaders in Vidharba. He resigned from the party citing “poor organization”. Deshmukh has an interesting track record of repeatedly quitting the party (three times) throughout his career.
8) Mangat Ram Sharma: In what was a major jolt to the party ahead of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the state’s former deputy chief minister (2002) Sharma quit the party, and joined the People’s Democratic Party. Sharma was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jammu in 1996, when he contested on a Congress ticket.
(Compiled from reports in The Times of India, Indian Express, Tribune and Mint)