THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over the last few years, a slew of turncoats from the Congress have joined the BJP and the CPM, where some of them have managed to get lucrative positions. However, a reverse flow has never happened in the Congress camp with none in the leadership eager to poach credible leaders from their rival political fronts.
The Congress leaders who joined the saffron camp over the last few years include Tom Vadakkan (national spokesperson), Vijayan Thomas, G Raman Nair, A P Abdulla Kutty (national vice-president), J Pramila Devi (state vice-president), Anil K Antony (national secretary and national spokesperson) and Padmaja Venugopal. While Padmaja is yet to get a post, former KTDC chairman Vijayan and former Travancore Devaswom Board president Raman Nair have become political nonentities in the party as they no longer hold any responsibilities.
But those who joined the Left camp -- Lathika Subhash (Kerala Forest Development Organisation chairperson), K P Anil Kumar (ODEPC chairman) and P S Prasanth (Travancore Devaswom Board president) — are a happy lot as they could have never dreamt of holding such posts while in Congress.
“The Congress state leadership has become a ‘B’ team of the BJP. A few months ago, Congress state president K Sudhakaran said he didn’t mind joining the BJP. An old picture of Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan lighting a lamp in front of a picture of Golwalkar surfaced in 2021 reveals his double standards. If f Oommen Chandy was alive, he would have prevented the leaders’ exodus,” Anil said.
Congress state president in-charge M M Hassan told TNIE that lack of power made the leaders restless.
“The party has not been in power in the state since 2016. If it were so, the turncoats would have remained here. Meanwhile, the BJP leadership’s reluctance to take former CPM Devikulam MLA S Rajendran into their fold shows the BJP-CPM undercurrent,” he said.
Political scientist Dr G Gopakumar echoed the same sentiments. “There has lately been a feeling that the Congress is in a weaker spot. The leaders who wish to have a permanent status in the political milieu will ensure that they remain with a party with a future, which is the BJP. It’s true that the BJP has miles to go in Kerala, but it was successful in snatching the two children of former Kerala chief ministers. But I feel that it will take time for Padmaja to get a top position,” he says.
On the other hand, even the joining of Francis Albert, a BJP leader from the coastal area of Thiruvananthapuram, along with a few of his supporters to the party created much hullabaloo at Indira Bhavan on Thursday.
Turncoats
Congress leaders who joined the BJP include Tom Vadakkan, Vijayan Thomas, G Raman Nair, A P Abdulla Kutty, J Pramila Devi, Anil K Antony and Padmaja Venugopal
Left camp joinees are Lathika Subhash, K P Anil Kumar and P S Prasanth