Congress victory in Hindi heartland may trigger political ghar wapsi in Maharashtra

34-Congress-supporters Congress supporters celebrating outside the party headquarters in Delhi | Arvind Jain

Ghar wapsi of a different kind is the hottest topic of conversation in the political circles of Maharashtra. The Congress's victory in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh elections has triggered hope in the party and the NCP state leadership that their former leaders who deserted the two parties, after the last Lok Sabha election, will now return 'home' after the spectacular come back made by the Congress in the Hindi heartland.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kakde met NCP chief Sharad Pawar on December 12 to wish Pawar on his 78th birthday. While this is normal in politics, what raised the eye brows of the BJP leaders is the fact that Kakde later went to Pune with Pawar.

Kakde earlier belonged to the NCP. After some dispute with the state NCP leaders, he quit the party and joined the BJP. It is well known that he doesn't get along with the BJP leaders from Pune.

“At least half a dozen MPs and close to two dozen legislators are in touch with us and Kakde is one of them. Other big names include Bhiwandi BJP MP Kapil Patil, Nandurbar MP Heena Gavit, and her legislator father Dr Vijay Kumar Gavit. All of them belong to the NCP and are in regular contact with us. We think they will return to the party fold ahead of theLoksabha election," a senior NCP leader told THE WEEK.

According to State Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant, 43 of the 122 BJP legislators were earlier members of the Congress and the NCP. “Many of them tell us how they are feeling suppressed. They are frustrated because of the authoritarian way of functioning within the BJP. Not just them, even the BJP leaders are in touch with us. After the BJP's defeat in three states, the steam has slowly started coming out. We expect a large scale homecoming ahead of the elections. But the choice will be ours and the party's central leadership will decide whom to readmit,” said Sawant.