Disquiet in BJP as Opposition satraps bag tickets after switching sides

MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is rolling out the red carpet for last-minute defectors from the Congress-NCP camp in Maharashtra , most of them second- and third-generation dynasts who now see the BJP as a viable alternative. The latest is Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar, the Congress district chief in Satara and a member of a politically influential family from Phaltan, who has been rewarded for his faith with the nomination for the Madha Lok Sabha seat.

The need for political survival and safeguarding of the family’s economic and business interests are two key considerations that have triggered these defections , say analysts. But for many BJP veterans, the idea that the novitiates may get rewarded instantly for switching loyalties while old-timers may get passed over in the race for tickets and posts is a disquieting factor. What impact will this have on the Sangh which professes the values of spartan living and selfless volunteerism? Will the ‘aayaram-gayaram’ culture of political opportunism take root in the BJP as well?

One BJP MP analysed the dilemma of inducting fresh talent by saying, “Times have changed. We are no longer in the Atal Behari Vajpayee era. The earlier BJP generation workers was honest and hard working, but that isn’t enough to win Lok Sabha seats. We have to beat the Congress at its own game.”

The Maharashtra unit of the BJP, it is said, has worked out a plan to poach on the Congress, the NCP and other parties following a diktat from party president Amit Shah who has set 45 Lok Sabha seats from the state as the target. Girish Mahajan, senior minister and Fadnavis’ close confidante, has been put in charge to achieve the goal, it is learnt.

There are allegations that the ruling party is using the investigating agencies to coerce some members of the Opposition to toe the party’s line. This charge is obviously refuted. “There is no need for us to do this when voters are with the BJP all the way,” said Parag Alavani, BJP MLA from Vile Parle.

Among recent converts to BJP are Sujay Vikhe-Patil, son of senior Congress leader and sugar baron Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, who joined last week after his father failed to persuade the NCP to let Sujay contest from Ahmednagar as the Congress nominee. In the mahagathbandhan, Ahmednagar is held by the NCP. Sujay was followed by Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil from Solapur, son of NCP heavyweight Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, former deputy CM of Maharashtra. His defection is seen as the culmination of a long-drawn political slug-fest in Solapur, a district with a high number of sugar cooperative factories, the spine of rural politics in Maharashtra. At a function last week to mark his induction into the BJP, Mohite-Patil Jr. delivered his lines with well-rehearsed ease. “The need of the hour is to resolve issues of agrarian unrest. I think this can be done only under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ,” he said.

Another addition to the list is Bharati Pawar who will be the BJP candidate from Dindori. She left NCP and joined the BJP last week. Pawar has replaced the sitting BJP MP in the Dindori Lok Sabha constituency. And now in the latest switchover, Naik-Nimbalkar of Congress has joined the BJP.

Intra-party squabbling and hopes of tickets or appointments to state-run bodies are also cited as reasons for these satraps to make the shift. “With a large section of Congress voters shifting their loyalty to BJP there is nothing wrong if we welcome Congressmen or NCP functionaries into the party fold,” said Alavani. An old-time BJP functionary, since retired, however cautioned, “The ‘open door’ policy can change into a ‘revolving door’ policy overnight if the BJP fails to reach the 272 mark.”