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Party hoppers jump ship, hit BJP’s ‘grand’ Punjab plans
Setback for state unit chief Jakhar as he had given three ex-ministers key posts in the saffron party
The return of three turncoats, including a core committee member, to the Congress, has given a big jolt to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that is eyeing to expand party base in the Punjab.
The exodus of ex-ministers Raj Kumar Verka, Balbir Sidhu and Gurpreet Kangar, who had left the Congress to join the BJP after the 2022 state poll debacle, is also a setback for the newly appointed Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar who had recently given the trio key posts in the party.
“It is a real shocker. The BJP, the state unit, including the state affairs in-charges, were completely unaware of these leaders’ plans of going back to the Congress fold. The central leadership tried to talk to all the three former ministers but by that time damage was done,” a senior party leader, familiar with the developments, said.
Jakhar admitted that he was also caught unawares. “As a state unit chief, I take the responsibility as to why these leaders decided to join the Congress. We will ponder over it as to what went wrong and what more we need to do to strengthen our base. We will try to find out shortcomings within our style of functioning as well,” said Jakhar.
While Sidhu and Kangar, both Jat Sikh faces, were appointed vice presidents of the party in the team announced by Jakhar only a month ago, Verka was the core committee member. The Punjab BJP, until now, was in a muscle flexing mode and its leaders had even openly declared that they do not feel the need of an alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal.
“The development is going to hit the hype created by the BJP and will create confusion among those leaders who were planning to join us in the near future. Even if there is any possibility of an alliance with the SAD, the desertion of big leaders is sure to hit our bargaining power,” said a senior party leader from Doaba, pleading anonymity.
It is learnt that Verka, a prominent Valmiki Dalit face from Amritsar, was peeved at not being accommodated in the state unit and was upset over the elevation of retired IAS Jagmohan Raju as general secretary.
Verka said they had committed a blunder by leaving the Congress party to join the BJP. “We have corrected our mistake,” he said. “Unlike the Congress, the BJP has not been able to accommodate all sections of society. So, leaving my mother party was my fault,” Verka added.
Both Sidhu and Kangar were also upset with the style functioning of the party and preferred “inexperience” and politically novice people to run the show in Punjab.
“Junior-most people who don’t have even contested MC polls were part of the new team. Just because they have direct access to the high command through their bosses doesn’t mean that we would have to report to such people. We got a feeling that BJP people managing Punjab don’t understand the state,” said one of the former ministers.
Other Punjab leaders who jumped the ship to join Congress on Friday are: Former MLAs Hansraj Josan, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu and Mohinder Kumar Rinwa, all from Shiromani Akali Dal.
