BJP’s defection strategy: Gain turncoats, lose loyalty—A balancing act for political dominance
New Delhi: With the Lok Sabha elections just around the corner, the main opposition party, Congress, is grappling with a significant setback as a wave of defections to the BJP unfolds.
Following boxer Vijender Singh’s departure from the Congress, the party experienced another blow with the defection of prominent TV personality Gourav Vallabh and former state president Anil Sharma to the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday.
Despite these defections, the leadership of the Congress asserts that this exodus will ultimately liberate the party from the influence of turncoats, allowing it to be steered by loyal members.
In 2019, approximately 75 candidates across various political parties switched sides before the election, with at least 47 facing defeat. This phenomenon, commonly referred to as turncoats, has long been a part of electoral democracies. Turncoats are candidates who contest elections under a different party’s banner than the one they were previously associated with. Unlike defectors, they don’t defect but rather shift allegiance from one party’s ideology to another.
This trend of political realignment is further notable in the states, where politicians frequently switch party affiliations. These individuals, who were once vocal defenders of the Congress on crucial issues, now find themselves on the other side of the political spectrum, advocating for the ruling BJP and defending the government and its policies.
The common grievances among these Congress leaders leaving the grand old party include criticism of the leadership’s inaccessibility and allegations of dynastic politics within the Congress.
In the lead-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has expanded its ranks by recruiting numerous outsiders. Among these recruits, 16 are from the Congress, eight from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and smaller numbers from other parties like the Aam Aadmi Party, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party, Biju Janata Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Telugu Desam Party, and Trinamool Congress, as well as independents.
While the BJP unveiled its initial list of candidates for Punjab recently, it was visible that three notable turncoats: Preneet Kaur, Sushil Kumar Rinku, and Ravneet Singh Bittu. Preneet Kaur, a suspended Congress MP from Patiala, has been nominated as the candidate for the same constituency. Kaur, a four-time MP and former Union minister, recently joined the BJP last month. In line with expectations, the BJP has chosen Sushil Kumar Rinku, the lone MP from AAP, as its candidate for the Jalandhar seat. Rinku’s selection comes just four days after his switch to the saffron party in Delhi. Additionally, the BJP has nominated Ravneet Singh Bittu, a three-time MP, for the Ludhiana seat. Bittu is the latest in a string of Congress leaders to defect, following former MLAs Gurpreet Singh GP and Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who switched sides in less than three weeks.
However, many former Congress turncoats in the BJP now find themselves relegated to the sidelines in Gujarat, where they were once welcomed with great enthusiasm. Among them, only three defectors hold ministerial positions in Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s cabinet, while others have failed to secure any significant party roles.
