On January 21, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati called a press conference in Lucknow to denounce both the Samajwadi Party and the BJP. Before it got over, veteran SP leader Ambika Chaudhary walked in, presented her with a bouquet and expressed his desire to join her party. Mayawati seated him next to her and announced that he would contest the Uttar Pradesh assembly election from Phephna, replacing the candidate she had announced earlier.
The drama was aimed at projecting Mayawati as the dominant player in Uttar Pradesh. Chaudhary, who had been in the SP for more than 40 years, switched sides to save his political career after being sidelined by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
Last August, prominent OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya left the BSP to join the BJP. But, to his dismay, people close to him found no place in the BJP’s first list of candidates. As he began backchannel talks with the SP, the BJP placated him with tickets for him and his son and included him in the list of its star campaigners.
Navjot Singh Sidhu (right) with Congress leader Ajay Maken | Arvind Jain
“We did not come to the BJP with a condition,” Maurya told THE WEEK. “I did recommend a few names; some got through, some didn’t. My son got the ticket because of his work. There is a rebellion in the BJP which should be dealt with a strong hand. There is too much democracy here. To win elections, we should be firm in maintaining discipline.”
This election season has seen parties openly welcoming ‘rebels’ of rival camps. The BJP, in particular, has inducted a number of them. It has allotted them tickets in UP, Uttarakhand and Manipur, even at the expense of its longtime members. When questioned about giving tickets to ‘turncoats’, BJP general secretary Arun Singh said, “All of them are now BJP members, and the tickets have been given to BJP members only.”
For political parties, embracing turncoats serves a strategic purpose. “It shows that our party is the frontrunner in elections. So we welcome leaders from other parties to signal that we have the edge over our rivals,” said a senior BJP leader.
In Punjab, 30 Congress rebels have filed their nominations as independent candidates after they were denied party tickets. Former cricketer and BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who earned his political stripes by denouncing the dynastic Congress, recently joined hands with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. “I was a born Congressman,” Sidhu said. “This is a ghar wapsi for me.”
Swami Prasad Maurya at a BJP rally in Lucknow | Pawan Kumar
Pargat Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal MLA and former captain of the national hockey team, also joined the Congress. “This shows our strength and the wave in our favour,” Congress leader Sunil Jakhar told THE WEEK. “There have been grievances about some people not getting tickets. But, as made clear by Captain Amarinder Singh, winnability is the only factor for giving tickets.”
Veteran Congressman and former Uttarakhand chief minister N.D. Tiwari, 91, and his son Rohit Shekhar joined the BJP after meeting party chief Amit Shah at his residence in Delhi. Their entry left the BJP deeply embarrassed, as social media went abuzz with Tiwari’s controversial past.
The BJP has also given tickets to nine rebel Congress MLAs in the state, led by former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna. In all, 14 former Congressmen in Uttarakhand have been given BJP tickets. “All those Congress leaders who joined us are now in our party,” BJP state president Ajay Bhatt told THE WEEK. “They have been given tickets after weighing the pros and cons. Every family has some upsets, as many were vying for tickets. We hope to solve the issues soon.”
By giving tickets to turncoats and overruling the claims of local leaders, Shah seems to be pinning his hopes on candidates who can win. While this strategy was a huge success in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it paid little dividend in the Bihar assembly elections the following year.
Amit Shah with N.D. Tiwari | PTI
In Goa, former state RSS chief Subhash Velingkar floated the Goa Suraksha Manch to take on the BJP. He has entered into a grand alliance with former BJP allies Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the Shiv Sena, making the assembly polls a four-cornered contest. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are the other two major political forces.
The MGP has fielded rebels from the BJP and the Congress, while the BJP has so far given tickets to three Congress leaders. The AAP, too, has fielded several former BJP leaders and workers.
In Manipur, most of the 31 candidates announced by the BJP are former members of the Congress, the Trinamool Congress or the Communist Party of India. “The Congress was following the divide and rule policy,” said former minister N. Biren Singh. “Many of us have now joined the BJP as we are getting what we wanted.”
