With rumours suggesting that a disgruntled Kamal Nath will join BJP, there is sudden interest in the number of former Congress chief ministers switching sides and joining BJP. If he joins the saffron party, he will be the 12th former Congress chief minister to do so.
With rumours that Nath will join BJP, the Congress in Madhya Pradesh is making sure that other legislators do not jump ship. His son Nakul Nath, who is an MP, was also speculated to join the BJP. There was no official confirmation by Nath or BJP about him joining the saffron party when this report was published.
Ashok Chavan
This comes just days after former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan left Congress to join BJP. He is the latest in the long list of former Congress chief ministers to join the saffron party.
Chavan reportedly quit the Congress after being denied a nomination to Rajya Sabha. After joining BJP, the former Maharashtra CM was nominated to the Upper House. This came after former Congress Lok Sabha MP Milind Deora joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique joined Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
Kiran Kumar Reddy
Ex-CM of united Andhra Pradesh Kiran Kumar Reddy (2023) quit Congress in March 2023 and joined the BJP the following month. He had blamed the Congress's "bad decisions" for its decline in the state, referring to the bifurcation of the Andhra Pradesh when he was CM.
Amarinder Singh
Former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh joined the BJP in 2022 by merging his party, Punjab Lok Congress (PLC), with it. Before floating the party, he had quit Congress after he was asked to step down as CM following a power tussle.
Digambar Kamat
Former Goa CM Digambar Kamat quit the Congress in September 2022 to join BJP along with eight MLAs.
Ravi Naik
Another former Goa chief minister to quit Congress was Ravi Naik. He joined the BJP in December 2021, more than a year after his sons joined the saffron party in August 2020. This was Naik's second stint in BJP as he had joined the party in 2000 and served as deputy chief minister to Manohar Parrikar.
Luizinho Faleiro
Former Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro quit the Congress in September 2021 to join the Trinamool Congress. Another former Goa CM to quit Congress and join TMC in 2014 was Churchill Alemao.
Ajit Jogi
Late Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi quit Congress in 2018 to form his own party, Janata Chhattisgarh Congress (Jogi).
S.M. Krishna
Ex-Karnataka CM S.M. Krishna joined BJP in March 2017 around two months after quitting Congress. He was Karnataka chief minister from 1999 to 2004. He also served as External Affairs Minister and Maharashtra governor.
Pema Khandu
Ex-Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu joined the BJP on December 31, 2016, after switching loyalties twice in three months. Khandu quit the Congress in September 2016 and joined the ruling People's Party of Arunachal (PPA). But the he and six other MLAs were suspended by the regional party in December following which they joined BJP, to form government under the saffron party.
Giridhar Gamang
Ex-Odisha chief minister Giridhar Gamang who quit the Congress in 2015 to join the BJP and later the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, returned to the grand old party in January this year.
Vijay Bahuguna
Former Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna joined the BJP in May 2016. He was the Congress CM from March 2012 to January 2014. The Congress replaced him with Harish Rawat. In 2016, Bahuguna along with a few rebel MLAs quit the party to join BJP.
Other former chief ministers to quit Congress are N.D. Tiwari and Ghulam Nabi Azad. Tiwari was the chief minister of Uttarakhand and the united Uttar Pradesh, left Congress and backed the BJP in 2018 ahead of the assembly elections. However, he did not formally join the saffron party, as per reports. Azad quit the Congress in August 2022 and floated a party called Democratic Azad Party in the following month. He was Jammu and Kashmir CM from 2005 to 2008.
