BENGALURU: Up until a few weeks back, Baburao Chauhan, a BJP leader, would swear that he would never leave the party. All that changed however when he was denied a ticket. With no qualms about his next move, Chauhan smoothly slid over to the other side and rejoined the Congress, his old party which he had left some years ago.
In Karnataka, before you can say ‘Aya Ram’, netas become a ‘Gaya Ram. The speed at which politicians in Karnataka are jumping and leaping from one party to another after the Lok Sabha elections were declared, would leave an average voter stumped and confused about their political affiliations. The situation can be observed at its best, or perhaps its worst, in Gulbarga, where Mallikarjun Kharge is seeking re-election. As many as seven senior leaders, including BJP candidate Umesh Jadhav, are displaying some amazing ‘poll-vaulting’ skills, changing sides like it is second nature to them.
Elsewhere in Hassan, the decision by Congress to hand over the seat to JD(S) rankled Congress leader A Manju so much that he joined the BJP and will now take on former Prime Minister Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal in the JD(S) bastion. His entry into the BJP prompted the exit of district BJP president Yoga Ramesh, who signed up with Congress.
The long list of these party-hoppers, who have switched sides in the past few days, includes -- former ministers Dr AB Malakareddy, Vaijinath Patil, KB Shannappa, Babu Rao Chauhan and BJP leader from Kalaburgi Subhash Rathod.Chauhan joined Congress in Kalaburagi on Wednesday and touched Kharge’s feet and said that he regretted ever leaving the Congress. However, he did not stay quiet about his disappointment at not being given a BJP ticket. His goal is now to ensure BJP candidate’s defeat.
JD(S) leader Kishor Bakode, also the owner of a hotel in the town, joined the Congress. “Voters are not bothered about such developments as they know politicians do it for power,” says political analyst Prof Harish Ramaswamy. “People tend to believe that it is part of our political culture and not take such developments seriously. Unfortunately, there is no structure in political parties to prevent such developments,” he added.
According to political analyst Prof Sandeep Shastri, most leaders change parties if they do not get tickets, and parties which do not find good candidates in some constituencies give tickets to such leaders. “It all depends on the leaders, if they have a good base they can win elections irrespective of their party. Leaders like former CMs S Bangarappa, Ramakrishna Hegde or B S Yeddyurappa could win their seats from different parties,” said Shastri.
Senior leaders SM Krishna, former Union minister Srinivasa Prasad, JD(S) state president H Vishwanath, Congress candidate from Mysuru CH Vijayshankar, minister Zameer Ahmed Khan and many senior leaders have changed parties since the last LS polls in 2014.