THE ROAD TO THE 2024 Lok Sabha elections is paved with possibilities. The Congress is trying to reinvent itself by organising the Bharat Jodo Yatra and preparing to elect a new president—perhaps the first non-Gandhi in nearly 25 years. The BJP, ever on expansion mode, continues to bring in leaders from diverse political parties, even from those that are not ideologically compatible.
Since Rahul Gandhi began his walkathon, two former Congress chief ministers have joined the BJP. In Goa, Digambar Kamat switched sides with seven other MLAs; in Punjab, Amarinder Singh and four of his family joined the BJP, merging with the saffron party his 11-month-old Punjab Lok Congress, which he had floated after quitting the Congress. With these attention-grabbing inductions, the BJP has been able to steal the mind space.
The hardcore BJP worker may view the induction of non-hindutva leaders into the party fold with apprehension. But then, the BJP itself has been widening its reach since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah took the leadership reins. Since 2014, as many as 10 former Congress chief ministers have joined the BJP. Apart from Amarinder in Punjab and Kamat in Goa, there has been Giridhar Gamang in Odisha, S.M. Krishna in Karnataka, Vijay Bahuguna in Uttarakhand, Ravi Naik in Goa, K.L. Chishi in Nagaland, N.D. Tewari in Uttarakhand, Narayan Rane in Maharashtra and Pema Khandu in Arunachal Pradesh. Another former chief minister who has quit the Congress and may soon ally with the BJP is Ghulam Nabi Azad.
This story is from the October 02, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.
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This story is from the October 02, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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