BHOPAL: Assembly polls are still 11 months away, but the season of political switchovers seems to have already begun in Madhya Pradesh.
Former Congress MLA Brij Bihari Pateriya ended his long association with the grand old party on Saturday, joining the ruling BJP in presence of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the CM's residence in Bhopal.
Counted among powerful Brahmin leaders from Bundelkhand region, Pateriya who won the Deori assembly seat of Sagar district as Congress candidate in 1998, had unsuccessfully contested against BJP veteran and present PWD minister Gopal Bhargava in 2008 from Rehli seat of Sagar district only.
While Pateriya's switchover to BJP is being seen as a jolt to the Congress, as he is a wealthy politician having an influence on all seven assembly seats of Sagar district.
This will be a significant gain for the saffron party, as it has managed to win the Deori seat (which Pateriya won in 1998) four times while the Congress party has won it five times since 1980. The Congress has won the seat last two times (2013 and 2018) by convincing margins, with Kamal Nath loyalist Harsh Yadav winning both times.
While Pateriya has joined the BJP now, his nephew Vinit Pateriya joined the saffron party a few years back after quitting Congress. It's Vinit's wife Anita, who is presently the Deori Janpad Panchayat chairperson.
According to BJP sources, either Brij Bihari Pateriya or his nephew may be fielded by the BJP from the Deori seat in next year's polls, as the party has failed to field a strong candidate from the seat in the last two assembly polls.
Pateriya joined the BJP in presence of urban administration minister Bhupendra Singh, a senior party leader from Bundelkhand and an MLA from Khurai, which is also in Sagar district.
Singh, who is believed to be instrumental in Pateriya joining the BJP, said, many more Congress leaders, including present MLAs, are in touch with him to join the saffron party. He, however, added that it's not guaranteed that those joining BJP will be fielded in the 2023 year-end polls.
Meanwhile, sources said the internal surveys of the RSS-BJP have pointed towards strong anti-incumbency against sitting BJP MLAs in Gwalior-Chambal, Vindhya and Bundelkhand regions.
It's possible these surveys may prompt BJP to welcome politicians from other parties, particularly with an eye on those seats where there is high anti-incumbency against sitting MLA and absence of strong replacement from within party ranks.
Recently, state cooperatives minister Arvind Singh Bhadoria also hinted at many Congress MLAs eager to join the party.
Senior state Congress leaders, including state party chief Kamal Nath, leader of opposition Dr Govind Singh and ex-minister Lakhan Singh Yadav have recently claimed that many BJP leaders, including sitting MLAs (among them Jyotiraditya Scindia-loyalists), are keen to join Congress, as they fear denial of tickets by the BJP in next elections.