BJP continues to poach Congress leaders in various states

As the Lok Sabha elections approach, many leaders of opposition have changed sides and joined the BJP, most recent being, a close associate of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and some other functionaries of the Congress.

Syed Zafar, a former Congress spokesperson, joined the BJP in Bhopal in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and the party's state head VD Sharma, according to media reports.

Although his profile on X, mentioned him as general secretary of MP Congress, state Congress media department chairman K K Mishra said Zafar was not holding any post in the party at present, reported PTI.

Earlier this month, there were speculations that Nath also might switch over to the BJP, but he denied such rumors.

Besides Zafar, MP Congress general secretary Maneesha Dubey, some other party leaders and BSP's state in-charge Ramsakha Verma also joined the BJP after being influenced by the welfare schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and policies of the BJP, a spokesperson of the ruling party said.

Earlier this month, former Union minister Suresh Pachouri former MP from Dhar Lok Sabha seat Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi and several other Congress leaders joined the BJP.

Former Congress MLA Ramlal Meghwal and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) leader Vikram Singh Gurjar joined the BJP in Rajasthan on Monday.

A day prior to that, Congress leader and MLA from Uttarakhand’s Badrinath assembly, Rajendra Bhandari joined the Bharatiya Janata Party at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday, an official statement said.

According to a report by The Statesman, Uttarakhand Congress is facing erosion of leadership as its senior leaders, sitting and former MLAs have started switching their loyalties to the BJP.

More than 12,000 Congressmen have joined the saffron party as the main Opposition party accused the state government of resorting to coercion to poach its leaders, said the report.

Two days ago, former Congress MLAs, Vijaypal Sajwan and Malchand, mass leaders in Uttarkashi, had joined the BJP with their supporters.

Speculations are rife that Anukriti Gusain, a well-known former model and daughter-in-law of Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat who is facing a CBI probe, is set to join the saffron party. She resigned from the Congress on Sunday.

Last week, as many as 25 Congress leaders, including two former minister and three former MLAs of the party from Rajasthan joined BJP.

Prominent Congress leaders who joined BJP include ex-ministers Lalchand Kataria and Rajendra Yadav; and former MLAs Richpal Singh Mirdha, Vijaypal Mirdha and Khiladi Bairwa. Last month,  senior Congress leader Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya had also joined BJP.

The situation seems similar in the southern India as well. Last week, Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of former Congress chief minister K Karunakaran, joined BJP. Padmaja, a former state vice-president of the Congress in Kerala, was unhappy in the party after she lost Assembly elections in 2016 and 2021.

Former Indian athlete Padmini Thomas and former Congress district committee general secretary Thampanoor Satheesh also joined BJP last week, reported The Indian Express.

Padmini, a recipient of the Arjuna Award, had served as the president of Kerala State Sports Council during the previous Congress regime.

This consistent trend of BJP attracting Congress leaders from different states is aimed at strengthening BJP’s influence and part of Modi’s goal of achieving 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections thereby weakening the Congress party’s presence across the nation.