Bumpy take-off!

I had written a few days ago of the West Bengal legislators’ and party leaders’ unprecedented defections to the BJP. TMC leads the defectors, but there are also a few from the Congress and the left. BJP, the party which was perceived untouchable and outsider has become an acceptable one now.

Today, a handful of TMC legislators led by a former minister Rajib Banerjee were to join the BJP in Amit Shah’s presence during the latter’s two-day visit to the city beginning today. However, Shah’s visit stood cancelled. What happened after that was bizarre, a private plane landed from Delhi to pick up the wannabe defectors and flew them to Amit Shah’s residence at Delhi. All the politicians joined the BJP in the presence of Shah.

There was nothing bizarre in either joining the opposition party, which is now a new normal or whisking them over to Delhi in a private plane. As I understand, the strangeness was the group insisted on joining only in the presence of Shah or with a leader of a stature higher than Shah. It sends a few disturbing signals. The local BJP leadership image was not good enough to meet the level of importance demanded by the group. Neither did the national leaders from the BJP camping in Bengal matched their expectations. The events may not augur well for times to come.

The insistence of Shah for the induction could also reveal the underlying incompatibility of perceptions of the former TMC members, injected with strong doses of the anti-religious and anti-outsiders stand of their earlier party about the BJP. Rajib, a former member of TMC for too long could have found it difficult to disengage from the deep inculcation to change over in a day, regardless of his discord with TMC.

It is time that the BJP must watch out, rather than filling in all and sundry discontent elements from the BJP. There will be many more, who will be denied tickets, who will all rush to the BJP, now that there are many familiar faces in the national party. It might make the management of the West Bengal chapter of the BJP, post-elections, rather difficult.

Rajib Banerjee though, could be an asset wherever he lands.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix