NEW DELHI: The BJP has now seemingly taken pole position in being the party of first choice for the hoppers, with the saffron outfit gaining expertise in riding the quick rode to the power with the help of political heavyweights from the ranks of the rivals.
On Saturday, the BJP in the presence of Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah, once again demonstrated its ease to gain outside talents as West Bengal politics heavyweights led by Suvendu Adhikari walked into the saffron arms.
In Bengal, the BJP has been well aware that the party cadre wouldn’t be able to match up with the TMC’s strength and that its best bet lied in political imports. Those who jumped ship to board the saffron bus were richly rewarded with Lok Sabha tickets in 2019.
With its eyes set on capturing power in the eastern state, the BJP has now again engineered a similar exodus ahead of Assembly elections next year. In Assam, the BJP had gained Himata Biswa Sarma, sulking in the Congress, and reaped unprecedented electoral gains in the entire Northeast. Sarma soon became the chief Sherpa of Shah to become the BJP’s flagbearer in N-E, helping the saffron outfit gain power in several states, sometimes by triggering mass exodus from the Congress ranks.
The party tasted success in Tripura by ensuring mass defection from TMC and Left. The BJP’s knack of gaining outside talent helped the party script a social engineering in Uttar Pradesh, with imports from the ranks of Bahujan Samaj Party — Dara Singh Chouhan, SPS Baghel and others — who helped it gain acceptance among the extremely backward castes.
In Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP had become aware of the party’s graph reaching the plateau with long years of incumbency bringing fatigue among cadres and supporters. In Gujarat, the BJP’s victory margin had narrowed down in 2017, and in MP it had lost out in the race for power by a whisker in 2018. In both the states, the BJP subsequently went on to trigger defections.
Jyotiraditya Scindia’s induction earlier this year showed the BJP’s acumen to wean away even top functionaries of the Congress. That the BJP pampers the party hoppers is evident from the fact that its list of vice presidents includes turncoats like B J Panda (ex-BJD), Annapurna Devi (ex-RJD), A P Abdullakutty (ex-CPI) and Mukul Roy (ex-TMC).
Social engineering in UP
The BJP’s knack of gaining outside talent helped the party script a social engineering in Uttar Pradesh, with imports from the ranks of BSP and others.