Congress Prasada to the BJP

The defection of former Union Minister, Jitin Prasada from the Congress to the Bharatiya Janata Party has not come as a surprise, since the one-time close aide of Rahul Gandhi had been negotiating with the saffron brigade for more than a year now. In fact, there is intense speculation that another second-generation leader, who has also been in talks with the BJP, could be the next one to shift loyalties in Uttar Pradesh.
The development has not only indicated the state of affairs within the Congress but also shows that all is not well with the BJP, particularly in the country’s most populous state. Jitin Prasada’s induction is probably aimed at finding Brahmin faces in preparation of both the 2022 Assembly and the 2024 Parliamentary elections. However, by no stretch of imagination, the new entrant in the BJP can be described as a front ranking Brahmin leader; he lost the last three elections he contested.
Therefore, the logic for his entry may sound far-fetched now but could prove to be correct in the long run.
The only top Opposition leader the BJP fears is the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, who could possibly be a candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi in 2024. She is one of the foremost Brahmins in politics today, and the process for barricading her with a battery of young politicians of the same caste may have begun.
The appointment of Himanta Biswa Sarma as the Assam Chief Minister became possible since the BJP wanted to correct the impression that it was giving more weightage nationwide to the Rajput community at the cost of Brahmins. Devendra Fadnavis, who was the most prominent Brahmin CM from the Sangh Parivar was unable to retain his position following a fallout with the Shiv Sena.
The entry of first Jyotiraditya Scindia and now Jitin Prasada may have got the BJP enough publicity but its own cadres are not going to be happy with the decisions. In the past seven years, the BJP has been using “Operation Vibheeshan” to humble the Congress by using its leaders to help in defeating the grand old party.
Vijay Bahuguna, Harak Singh Rawat and Yashpal Arya assisted the BJP in Uttarakhand in toppling the Congress government led by Harish Rawat, now general secretary in-charge of Punjab. Since then the BJP too has suffered major reverses in the hill state and could be in serious trouble next year.
In Haryana, Birendra Singh and Rao Inderjit played a stellar role in getting the BJP to power in 2014 but as things stand today, the saffron brigade is facing a stiff challenge from the rural masses in the state in the wake of the ongoing farmers’ agitation.
In Uttar Pradesh, the likes of Jagdambika Pal and Rita Bahuguna Joshi were in the forefront to create a division within the Congress ranks. Both have gained but the BJP following the second wave of Covid is gasping for breath.
In West Bengal, Mukul Roy led the exodus from the Trinamool Congress towards the BJP but on Friday did a “ghar wapsi” after making up with Mamata Banerjee. The West Bengal CM has in the meanwhile rejected the return applications of other party colleagues who had left her prior to the elections, and has made no secret of her contempt for her one-time aide, Suvendu Adhikari.
Jitin Prasada is the son of Jitendra Prasada, who served as the political secretary to both Rajiv Gandhi and P.V. Narasimha Rao. Like Scindia he is considered a dynast and the entry of the duo has made the Sangh opponents to question the BJP’s opposition to the presence of dynasts in national politics.
The induction of political foes into a party generally indicates that the party that is accepting them does not have sufficient people to portray as presentable political faces. The Congress decline started when it brought in “outsiders” to strengthen its base, which, in fact, was eroded. Renuka Chowdhury from the TDP, Madhusudan Mistry and Shankarsinh Vaghela from the BJP, Narayan Rane and Sanjay Nirupam from the Shiv Sena are some of the most glaring examples.
It may be true that some more younger Congress leaders whom the BJP could find useful may also leave, but as stated earlier it does not reflect very well on the BJP. Politically, it may make sense because the new BJP under Modi and Shah would want to get rid of as many leaders who thrived in the Lal Krishna Advani era to put their mark on the saffron party.
The Congress is good at rocking its own boat and does not believe in salvaging its sagging fortunes. The issue of the party’s current leadership being unable to deliver keeps popping up, but the Gandhis appear to be adamant in controlling things. They must allow a non-Gandhi to take over and steer the ship for some time, but insecurity of losing out probably keeps them from making “the sacrifice”.
The party has to reinvent itself and under the present circumstances, Kamal Nath, Ashok Gehlot and Bhupendra Hooda are the only three leaders who could deliver. Otherwise, there could be more “prasad” for the BJP.
Between us.