Lost In The Bheed

Political oblivion is a gift for turncoats in the BJP fold, barring some exceptions

- Puneet Nicholas Yadav

CONGRESS old-timers often described their organisation—some still do—as a bheed or crowd of people sharing no common ideology or personal fondness. Patronage and a share of the power pie that the party could once guarantee glued the swarm together. For a little over five years, the crowd has been dispersing; taking refuge with new benefactors. The reason is obvious. PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah’s aggressive BJP has reduced its main rival to a caricature of its former self, federally. Congress bastions in most states have crumbled.

Of course, party-hopping, or the more colloquial but laconic catchphrase Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram, isn’t a new addition to the well-entrenched tradition of political opportunism. But, there’s a curious twist at play here, particularly with leaders who have jumped onto the BJP bandwagon, the favourite sanctuary for most hoppers irrespective of their political stature.

Barring notable exceptions like Himanta Biswa Sarma, Mukul Roy and Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, who quit the Congress, Trinamool Congress and the Biju Janata Dal respectively to join the BJP over the past four years, and a few others, most turncoats have been handed tickets to obscurity by the Modi-Shah duo. Some like Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh enjoy half-hearted patronage of the party that now controls the reins of a major chunk of India’s political landscape. Most others have no share of the pie.