RAIPUR: After the working president of the Congress, Ram Dayal Uike joined the BJP on Saturday, there are apprehensions in the opposition camp that more leaders, who are suspected to be in touch with the saffron party, may be tempted to switch-over ahead of the Assembly polls.
During the first visit of the BJP president to Chhattisgarh after the poll dates were announced by the Election Commission of India, the ruling party felt that weaning away of Uike, the tribal face of the Congress, was a big accomplishment in the presence of Amit Shah.
The Congress was shocked as it couldn't comprehend what led Uike to join the BJP, particularly when he was given the due respect and position within the party and often consulted on majority of the party's key decisions.
"This is absolutely opportunistic politics, but Uike failed to read the ground reality", said state Congress president Bhupesh Baghel on the development.
According to the political sources, around half-a-dozen Congress legislators are in touch with the BJP, out of which three are from Bastar region itself.
A few Congressmen feel that the odds are not in their favour and they don’t have a bright chance of getting the party tickets again. This might emerge as the major reason for them switching over to the BJP.
However, Congress leaders rubbished the contention as rumours spread by the BJP.
"The Congress is united and strong in Bastar. After the election we will form a government in Chhattisgarh", asserted Rajiv Sharma, Bastar district Congress president.
The BJP leaders claimed that their party remains well-prepared to face the polls and not keen to pursue anything that breaks its advantage.
Nevertheless, the Congress after the Uike episode remains on alert and is reportedly keeping an eye on the leaders who might put Congress into a quagmire during the polls.
"The BJP resorts to such measures (luring away leaders from rivals) in states wherever the elections take place. This is nothing new. Uike left because he demanded a tribal chief minister post while he was with the Congress. Now let him do so in the BJP and be honest with the values of the tribals. We don't need to keep watch on such leaders, the people of Chhattisgarh will teach them a lesson", the chairman of Chhattisgarh Congress media Shailesh Nitin Trivedi told the TNIE.