New Delhi: With the Lok Sabha battle set to kick-start in less than a month, disgruntled politicians across the country are joining political parties offering them greener pastures. Almost all parties have been hit hard, in state after state. The Congress, India's oldest political outfit, is the worst sufferer amid growing signs that it is set for major electoral reverses.
In contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by a confident Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has won over most deserters nationally as well as LJP leader Ramvilas Paswan as an ally in Bihar. Karnataka's tainted former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, too, is back with the BJP.
Nowhere has the Congress suffered more than in Andhra Pradesh, where its decision to create a Telangana state has led to mass desertions, with N Kiran Kumar Reddy, the former chief minister, forming a new party. Another prominent defector is D Purandeswari, a central minister who too dumped the Congress to embrace the BJP.
In Telangana region, the Telugu Desam Party saw three former legislators cross over to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
One of the biggest blows to the Congress came in Haryana - the birthplace of 'Aya Ram, Gaya Ram' culture - where Ambala legislator Venod Sharma, a confident of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, quit the party. So has the Congress MP and former union minister Rao Inderjit Singh, who has joined the BJP.
The defection spree is more pronounced in Bihar, where the April-May election is expected to see a three-way battle involving the Janata Dal United (JDU), the Congress-RJD alliance and the BJP.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad's biggest setback was the defection of senior leader Ram Kirpal Yadav, who joined the BJP. Yadav is now set to take on Lalu Prasad's daughter in Pataliputra, the very constituency where he was not allowed to be the RJD candidate.
Another prominent RJD leader, Ghulam Ghouse, has joined the JDU. So has BJP suspended legislator Avinash Kumar Singh.
The JDU has also suffered desertions to the BJP - the two parties were allies for 17 long years until 2013. JDU legislator Cheddi Paswan has gone over to the BJP.
In Assam, the once formidable Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) suffered a blow when its former president Chandra Mohan Patowary and a colleague, Hitendra Nath Goswami, joined the BJP.
While in Odisha, both the Congress and the BJP have suffered, more than a dozen leaders from these parties have joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD). One of them is Congress legislature party leader Bhupinder Singh, who, like many others complained that the party was not respecting senior members.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) lost a Lok Sabha member, Kamkeswar Baitha, and legislator Hemlal Murmu. The former is tipped to get a BJP ticket. Congress legislator Chandra Shekhar Dubey joined the Trinamool Congress.
In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena has lost three of its sitting MPs. Anand Paranjpe (Thane) and Ganesh Dudhgaonkar (Parbhani) joined the Nationalist Congress Party, and Bhausaheb Wakchaure (Shirdi) joined Congress.
Most political grasshoppers in Uttar Pradesh are from the Congress and the ruling Samajwadi Party. Old Congress loyalist Jagdambika Pal sailed to the BJP, he too complaining that the party does not respect "old timers".
Samajwadi Party MP Brij Bhushan Saran Singh is moving towards the BJP while former Samajwadi veteran Amar Singh has joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal along with actress-politician Jaya Prada.
The unbelievable happened in Kerala. The Revolutionary Socialist Party bid goodbye to the Left Democratic Front, after four decades, and moved over to the Congress-led alliance. On the other side, long-time Congress leader Phillipose Thomas will contest the election with Left backing.
The main beneficiary in West Bengal is the ruling Trinamool Congress, which has attracted both the Congress and Left Front leaders. But Somen Mitra, a former state Congress chief, returned to it from the Trinamool.
In Punjab, Congress legislator Jeet Mohinder Singh joined the ruling Akali Dal. But People's Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal has allied with the Congress.
In Tamil Nadu, where the Congress finds itself friendless, three of its former legislators - S Sivaraj, U Amaramurthy and K Venkatachalam - are now with the ruling AIADMK.
Some politicians have also chose to go the new player Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The name include- former Bihar minister Perween Amanullah, Congress leader Alok Nayak in Odisha, former AIADMK legislator Bader Sayeed in Tamil Nadu and suspended BJP MP Rajan Sushant in Himachal Pradesh. Sushant says, "The AAP is the only hope for India."
Here's a list of some important defections.
- N Kiran Kumar Reddy - former CM of AP. Quits the Congress launches his own 'Samaikandhra Party'.
- MK Alagiri - Out of favour with his father and DMK chief M Karunanidhi. Denied ticket. May launch his own political party.
- Ram Kripal Yadav - Quits RJD, joins BJP.
- Tejaswini, who once defeated former PM H D Deve Gowda quits Congress, joins BJP.
- Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh and Congress Legislature Party secretary Anup Sai joined BJD ahead of elections in Odisha.
- RSP, a partner of the Left front joins the ruling UDF in Kerala.
- Bhagirath Prasad, Congress candidate from Bhind in MP quits and joins BJP.
- RS MP Amar Singh joins RLD. Lok Sabha MP Jayaprada also joins RLD.
- Congress leader Venod Sharma joins BSP after his attempts to join the HJC fails.
- Rao Inderjit Singh, the Congress MP of Gurgaon in Haryana joins the BJP.
- Debi Ghosal, Ajoy De and former Left Front minister Dasarath Tirkey join TMC in West Bengal.
Sent at 6:20 PM on Wednesday
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